Government working to make defence acquisitions transparent: Manmohan Singh

GURGAON: Against the backdrop of scams such as the VVIP chopper scandal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the Government was working towards making defence acquisitions " transparent" and "less vulnerable to unethical practices".


He said the government is taking steps to indigenise defence procurement and stimulate the development of the domestic defence industry.

"We have also been guided by the objective of making our defence acquisition transparent, smooth, efficient and less vulnerable to unethical practices. We will continue to seek the highest standards of probity in defence acquisition," Singh said.

The Prime Minister said the Government is conscious of the fact that adequate defence preparedness is critically dependent on sound defence acquisition policies.

"We have paid close attention to this and have continually reformed those policies to ensure that our armed forces have the best equipment," he said.

The Prime Minister was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of Indian National Defence University.

In the recent past, a number of scams have taken place in the defence ministry including the VVIP chopper scandal in which it is alleged that kickbacks to the tune of Rs 362 crore were paid to swing the deal in favour of Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland.

The Defence Ministry has banned a number of firms including foreign vendors from doing business with India after they were found violating their integrity pact with the Government.