New Delhi [India], November 28 : Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on Friday warned that if there are delays in delivery under emergency procurement, the orders would be cancelled.
Speaking at the ANI National Security Summit, he said the aim is to bring accountability across both foreign and domestic suppliers.
He stated that to curb delays, the government is looking to introduce new regulations and policy changes to ensure that a case where delivery is not completed within one year will be "foreclosed".
"There is a tendency to overpromise and under-deliver. We will need to start cracking down much more, apply LD (liquidated damages) clauses. In the current round of emergency purchases that we are doing, we are actually taking a much tougher stand: in any case where delivery is not done within one year, that will be foreclosed," the Defence Secretary said.
"I intend to sort of ensure that it is done, regardless of which company or country is involved, any contract that misses the one-year delivery timeline will be closed. Hopefully, such decisions will help bring accountability," he added.
The Defence Secretary said this approach has been adopted after repeated delays in several categories of equipment.
He also said that delays are not exclusive to Indian manufacturers and noted that external factors linked to conflict situations have also affected delivery timelines.
He cited delays in the supply of S-400 systems due to Russia-Ukraine conflict and delays in several Israeli defence orders because of the situation in West Asia.
He also pointed to supply chain issues involving General Electric (GE) engines, which have slowed the induction of the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Mk1A into the Air Force.
"When I talk to HAL I will obviously go after the delays, but let me say in a more sort of open forum, that the delays are not just from domestic manufactures. You have seen the S-400 (air defence system) get delayed due to the conflict. Israel orders, many of them are delayed because of the conflict they are facing. There are supply chain issues which have affected them in context of General Electric Engines (HAL) that they have to wait for, so not all of them are solely attributable to domestic manufactures," he said.
The Defence Secretary also spoke about the Kaveri engine programme. He said India is close to finalising a plan with a leading international engine manufacturer to co-develop a 120 kN jet engine that will be fully made in the country with complete intellectual property rights held in India.
The DRDO-led proposal is expected to reach the top levels of the government soon. He said it will take about eight years to reach the prototype stage, followed by a few more years for certification.
Meanwhile, on domestic defence manufacturing, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's Chairman and Managing Director said the company now has an order book of more than Rs 2 lakh crore, with almost all products indigenously developed.
"Today the order book is upwards of Rs 2 lakh crores and every single product is homegrown. Except for the 15 Sukhoi Su-30, which are in order, the balance orders are the Prachand, the Tejas, the HTT-40s, and the Utility Helicopter Maritime (UHM), which is under development, will come out. We also have a civil version of Dhruv, which is under certification. Next year we will have the Dhruvs also in place. These are all coming out of our own design products," he said.