India’s Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Thursday, May 29, flagged delays in procurement of defence systems, saying that several contracts have been signed knowing that the projects will not be delivered.
Speaking at CII Annual Business Summit, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh said, “Many times, we know while signing contracts that those systems will never come. Timelines are a big issue. Not a single project I can think of is completed on time.”
“Why should we promise something that cannot be achieved?” he asked.
Referring to the contract signed in February 2021 for 83 Tejas Mk1A fighter jets worth ₹48,000 crore with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Air Chief stated that deliveries were scheduled to begin in March 2024. However, not a single aircraft has been delivered to date, he said.
Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh said the delay affected several projects.
“Deliveries of Tejas Mk1 are delayed. The prototype of Tejas Mk2 is yet to roll out. There is no prototype yet of the stealth AMCA fighter,” NDTV quoted the Air Chief Marshal as saying. Also Read | Operation Sindoor: IAF neutralised THESE Chinese-supplied Pakistani weapons in 23 minutes
“We cannot just talk about producing in India, we need to talk about designing. We need to have trust between the forces and industry. We need to be very open. Once we have committed to something, we should deliver. Air Force is trying to do its best to make in India,” he added.
The Air Chief Marshal said, “We have to be now-ready to be future-ready. In 10 years, we will have more output from industry, but what we need today, we need today. We need to quickly get our act together.”
“Wars are won by empowering our forces.”
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