Defence minister promises clean deals

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said he would act in a “fast and transparent” manner while acquiring hardware for the military, but the emphasis would be on indigenous manufacturing of arms and weapons.

The former Goa chief minister who succeeded Arun Jaitley as India’s 36th defence minister, said Modi’s plan to open up the defence sector was to boost manufacturing, which has a huge potential for employment generation.

“Despite several constraints, Jaitley initiated work on many issues relating to defence. I am confident of taking these steps forward with speed,” Parrikar said. He took over as the defence minister soon after filing his nomination in Lucknow for a seat in the Rajya Sabha.

Referring to the “Make in India” campaign, Parrikar said the measure would not only lead to self-reliance in defence manufacturing but also generate jobs and would ultimately help economic growth.

The IITian-turned-politician said he got only five minutes to pack his bag as the entire exercise related to his elevation to the top seat was done in two days. As the Union budget is four months away, Parrikar would have to work overtime to ensure that the armed forces can effectively spend the money allocated in the last fiscal and have adequate funds in the next budget to carry forward the modernisation programme.

India’s defence budget stands at Rs 2,29,000 crore with a jump of 12.43 per cent when compared against the 2013-14 budget. The allocated capital budget is more than 94,000 crore, bulk of which the NDA government will have to spend in the next four months. Though most of the budgetary spending would be on “committed liabilities”, the new defence minister would have to take key decisions on procuring 126 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force, light weight artillery guns for the Army and six more submarines for the Navy whose underwater arm is depleting fast.