Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 18 (ANI): Talking tough on delays in defence projects, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that due to various technological reasons, “many of our technical projects face delays”, with the need to take this seriously.
Singh was addressing a ceremony in Bengaluru marking the handover of LCA Tejas Trainer jets, HTT-40 Basic Trainer aircraft and Dhruv Next Generation (NG) civilian helicopters by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Pawan Hans Limited (PHL).
Rajnath Singh said, “There are several issues that we need to work on. One major issue among them is delay. These delays create gaps in our crucial projects. They also force us to deal with cost escalation. By the time we acquire equipment based on a particular technology, somewhere in the world, a better technology has already emerged.”
“By the time what we have developed reaches our hands, it has already become outdated. Keeping this in mind, we must ensure that our project timelines remain realistic.” He added.
The Defence Minister also emphasised the importance of research and development. He said, research and development is another major area that we need to focus on. We must encourage our scientists to create technologies that do not exist today.
Addressing young scientists, engineers and designers, the Defence Minister said, “Today, I want to give you a challenge: to create technologies that do not exist today. You need to develop capabilities that will give India a leading position in the global aerospace technology landscape in the coming decade.”
However, the Defence Minister congratulated HAL and its entire team on the achievement of the Dhruv-NG. He said, “For the first time, an indigenous helicopter will be used by ONGC for offshore operations. This is a major achievement in itself. In addition, the integration of the indigenous Shakti engine, which has received DGCA certification, is further strengthening India’s self-reliance.”
Rajnath Singh further said, “A decade ago, projects in the defence sector were progressing at a very slow pace, and we were largely dependent on imports for most things. But under the leadership of the Prime Minister, we began working with self-reliance as our guiding principle. Today, as we are moving towards self-reliance in the defence sector, we must make similar progress in the aerospace sector as well.” (ANI)
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