Recently I met a veteran banker who said that sometime after the emergency the leading party of the country decided it was too painful to raise poll funding in small amounts from Indian businessmen and decided to raise it from few Arms contracts from foreign parties. He said that from that day domestic businessmen lost clout with the said political party which it had since pre-independence. Left unsaid was the fact that there was then no incentive to develop a domestic arms industry to protect our nation.
Recent press reports confirmed that the Bofors Gun order of the 1980s included a technology transfer agreement in which drawings were transferred to India. However no action was taken to learn how to produce this for over two decades. Recently when the government tried to place fresh orders for such guns, CAG raised this issue. Once adequate pressure was out in the system, the drawings came up from two decades of cold storage.
It is time to rectify this mistake.
Recent press reports confirmed that the Bofors Gun order of the 1980s included a technology transfer agreement in which drawings were transferred to India. However no action was taken to learn how to produce this for over two decades. Recently when the government tried to place fresh orders for such guns, CAG raised this issue. Once adequate pressure was out in the system, the drawings came up from two decades of cold storage.
It is a sad story and a criminal negligence of the nation's interests but we as a nation dont have the time for crying now. This situation provides an opportunity to create a new industry, competences, save forex and also create export opportunities.
It is time to rectify this mistake.
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