The modernisation of the Indian Air Drive’s Mi-17 medium-lift helicopters—proposed in 2002—has not been achieved, compromising the fleet’s operational readiness, India’s high auditor mentioned in a report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
The Comptroller and Auditor Basic (CAG) mentioned the choppers have been flying with restricted functionality, attributing the state of affairs to “poor planning and indecision.”
“The defence ministry as a consequence of poor planning and indecision at varied phases of procurement took 15 years to enter (January 2017) into the upgradation contract of 90 Mi-17 helicopters with an Israeli firm. The contracted supply of those upgraded helicopters was to start out from July 2018 and be accomplished by 2024. Audit, nevertheless, famous that after upgradation, 56 of those helicopters can be left with lower than two years of life and can be phased out by 2024,” the CAG mentioned in a report on the Air Drive—one in every of three studies tabled in Parliament.
The report additionally highlighted irregularities within the buy of aero engines for unmanned aerial autos, citing a case the place a overseas vendor—Israel Aerospace Industries—equipped such engines at greater than 3 times the market worth.
In one other report on the administration of defence offsets, the CAG mentioned that the French plane maker Dassault Aviation and weapons-supplier MBDA haven’t confirmed the switch of know-how (ToT) to the Defence Analysis and Growth Organization (DRDO), which was a part of the Rs 59,000-crore Rafale contract, as reported by Hindustan Occasions on Thursday.
The auditor doubted if the ToT for a key engine would even happen, and identified that a number of offset contracts constructed into a number of defence offers haven’t yielded the specified outcomes. India’s offset coverage stipulates that in all capital purchases above Rs 300 crore, the overseas vendor has to speculate at the very least 30% of the worth of the acquisition within the nation to spice up indigenous capabilities. Within the case of the Rafale deal this was 50%.
In a 3rd report, the CAG flagged issues concerning the Indian Navy’s auxiliary vessel power not rising proportionately with its fight fleet. “The truth is, it was declining,” the CAG mentioned, attributing it to inordinate delays in acquisition course of and non-adherence to the prescribed timelines in conclusion of contracts.
The CAG discovered the navy’s current functionality of Landing platform docks (LPDs) to be insufficient to fulfill necessities for amphibious/expeditionary operations. Such warships are used to move troops, defence tools and helicopters into the battle zone by sea.
“The Indian Navy, due to this fact, determined to amass this very important warfare ship in October 2010 at a value of Rs 16,000 crore. Nonetheless, even after a lapse of 9 years, contract has not been concluded. This was as a consequence of failure to repair a specified time-frame for acquiring company debt restructuring exit certificates by one of many taking part corporations,” the CAG mentioned.
The auditor mentioned that insufficient availability of fleet tankers with Indian Navy compelled it to rent ships from commerce.
Tankers present water, ammunition and shops to warships at sea. “The approval for acquisition of fleet tankers at a value of Rs 9,045 crore was accorded in 2014. Nonetheless, the contract was but to be concluded until August 2019,” the report mentioned.
