Arun Jaitley: "Strategic Partnership" Facilitates Healthy Competition Between DPSUs & Private Sector

Shailesh Kumar, National Defence,

New Delhi, 30 May 2017

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley says that the recent policy announced by the Ministry of Defence on "Strategic Partnership"will facilitate healthy competition between the Defence Public Sector Units (DPSUs) and the private sector". On the occasion of presentation of Rakasha Mantri Awards, defence minister Arun Jaitley also inaugurated a 16 MW Grid Connected Solar Power Plant and BEML 9MW Wind Mill Park online. Jaitley, who was speaking at Manekshaw Centre during the presentation of Raksha Mantri's Awards for Excellence 2014-15 and 2015-16 said, "The policy, therefore, also being liberalised to allow fair competition between both the DPSUs and the private sector. And that is why the recent policy that Ministry of Defence has approved on the 'Strategic Partners' factors on both these contents".

"The capacity of the DPSUs and the other profiles to take them busy is also taken into consideration. Slowly but surely in highly specialised areas, we also need to explore larger defence manufacturing with the private sector participation. A healthy competition between the two will certainly bring out the best potential in both the areas. Competition always is the best guarantee for competence in the best deficiency of price control" Jaitley added.

He explained as how competition is good for growth. "It also provides you multiple opportunities. It provides you the options. And I think the more we live in the competitive environment, the more our professional skills and more our competence gets upgraded".

In the beginning of his address, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, who also holds the Finance Minister Portfolio in Modi Government, said "there is need for defence preparedness; particularly on the strength of domestic manufacturers. As India evolves the need for this can't be over emphasised. A country's ability for domestic manufacturer in areas of defence is really conditioned by two very powerful circumstances".

"The first is the strength of its economy, which also in terms of within the ability of human resource it has to contribute human resource in manufacturing. The second is its own security requirement. I don't think if we look at the kind of human resource which we have there is no reason why we don't become a force to reckon with. We are the country which is a home to 17 per cent of the global population. Having completed 7 decades after independence. We are now three years in the row we ahave achieved the fasted growing economy amongst the major economies".

"We aspire to evolve into developed economy from developing economy. We have a network of expanding educational institutions both run by the Governments and the private sectors. And we produced a human resource which does proud world over. And the last over two and a half decade has demonstrated that the technology comes naturally for us provided the input we put in are adequate and the investment which we make in this direction are commensurate with this requirement".

"Therefore, most global companies even outside the arena of defence now find it more economically viable to set up there R&D centres in India; training human minds are available in several parts of the country at a cost which competes with the best in the world. And if we have shown our ability in R&D in various areas and if we are becoming hub of various large global....." 

Watch defence minister Arun Jaitley's full speech at url: https://youtu.be/QPNFfAzxiFQ

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