23 of 55 high-priority DRDO projects missed deadline: Govt in Parliament

Twenty-three of the 55 high-priority projects being implemented by the Defence Research and Development Organisation could not meet their respective deadlines, the government informed Parliament

Twenty-three of the 55 high-priority projects being implemented by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) could not meet their respective deadlines, the government informed Parliament on Monday.

The projects included developing anti-air field weapons, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range radars, combat vehicles, combat suits for submarines and submarine periscopes, among others.

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt provided the details in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

He said high-priority projects are undertaken at the DRDO under the Mission Mode (MM) project category.

"Currently, there are 55 numbers of ongoing MM (Mission Mode) projects such as anti-air field weapons, solid fuel ducted ramjet technology, surface to air missiles, anti-ship missiles, long range radars, combat vehicles, high endurance autonomous underwater vehicles, combat suits for submarines, submarine periscopes etc.," Bhatt said.

"Of these 55 numbers of ongoing MM projects, 23 numbers did not meet deadlines. Of the 23 numbers of ongoing MM projects which did not meet the deadlines, nine have undergone cost overruns. However, not all cost overruns were necessitated due to time overruns," he added.

The minister, however, did not provide details of the deadlines and period of implementation of the projects.

Replying to a separate question, he said a common communication plan (COMPLAN) for coastal security has been promulgated by the Department of Border Management (BM-II Division) in the Ministry of Home Affairs for coordination among various agencies.