'Technology denial, infra crunch delay DRDO projects'

Non-availability of infrastructure and test facilities in the country, denial of technology by other nations and development of state-of-the-art technologies from the scratch are some of the reasons for delay in ongoing DRDO projects, Rajya Sabha was told today.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said in the Rajya Sabha that as on date, there are 294 ongoing projects with a cost of more than Rs 2 crore each in the DRDO.

While 60 are mission mode projects, 144 are technology development related, 62 relate to science and technology, five are for product support and 23 relate to infrastructure and facilities.

In a written response, he said some of the ongoing projects are delayed due to ab-initio (from the scratch) development of state-of-the-art technology, technological complexities, non-availability of infrastructure and test facilities in the country, non-availability of critical components, denial of technology by countries and failure of some components during trials.

Parrikar said consortium approach is being used for design, development and fabrication of critical components to overcome delays. Also, information technology and modern management techniques are being applied.

Joint funding by users are being encouraged to ensure their commitment towards earliest completion of project, he said.

In the last three years and current year, DRDO successfully completed 45 projects costing over Rs 2 crore each, the Defence Minister said.