NEW DELHI : Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is said to be deeply annoyed with the ‘lacklustre’ functioning of the DRDO which led to massive delays and huge cost overruns in as many as 44 major defence projects. The Minister, sources in the Defence Ministry said, has decided to put the organisation back on track at the earliest as the DRDO would prove to be key factor in the success of ambitious ‘Make in India’ programme of the Narendra Modi Government. Defence Ministry official said there about 530 ongoing projects in different DRDO labs, out of which 136 are in mission mode category. Some of these include critical projects like Agni-IV, Agni-V, Nirbhay cruise missile, underwater nuclear capable K-15 missile, AWACS and Tejas light combat aircraft. The major overhaul of the DRDO is being planned in the wake of sacking of Avinash Chander as Chief of the organisation. The post of Director General DRDO and Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri was being separated and a major stake is on the cards of its various laboratories spread across the country. Officials said that 44 major projects costing more than Rs 100 crore each were facing cost revisions and time overrun. Besides, 10 projects are more than 5 years old, which were sanctioned before 2009. Eighteen major projects of more than Rs 50 crore were sanctioned during April 2002 to March 2007 and none has yet been completed.
Moreover, two of them have been closed, five awaiting closure and one under evaluation.
Out of 43 major projects initiated during 11th Five Year Plan, none has reached completion.
“The minister is perturbed to observe that the projects being undertaken are not executed according to their schedule and inordinate delays in execution of almost all the projects is a common feature,” officials said.
Many projects of the DRDO have been closed before completion resulting in waste of a considerable amount of money. Several projects including development of cargo ammunition, development of 30 mm Fair Weather Towed AD Gun System and development of 30 mm Light Towed AG Gun System have been closed. (AGENCIES)
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