Thursday, February 25, 2010

Defence Offsets India: A Close Review

We have all stakeholders- OEMs, Govts incl the Armed Forces, Industry, Public & Private, DRDO and Other Research Organisations, MSMEs, Industry Associations & Chambers, and Others – present their advocacy in the past 2-3 years eloquently with no hold barred. Everyone has a ‘coloured’ approach.

Buyer Govt., India, has a clear mandate to develop its Defence & Aerospace Industrial Base, but others would attempt to ‘play safe’. It is here that strong resolve and perseverance to build the domestic industry is needed, and all negativity snubbed.

We could slate our need, strategic-techno-commercial, as under:

1. Technologies and Engineering Practices that no country would be willing to part with in order to retain its technological leadership in the defence / industrial domain, such technologies would need to be developed in-house through DRDO/IITs/IISc/ Other Research Ests with major Govt Funding, with / without offset partnership.

2. Technologies and Engineering Practices that are ‘critical’ but can be shared with ‘friends’, and 'allies' by OEMs for various benefits, these could be co-developed through FDI Route/Domestic Investments/Govt / Offset Funding, etc.

3. Designs, Engineering Practices and ToT that come necessarily as part of the contracts in terms of licensed production in India need NOT be separately priced. This could form part of the Product Quote, built in the RFQ. Such a manufacturing and subsequent procurement by the OEM/Its Agencies forms part of the offset fulfillment, gets them offset credits. Indian MSMEs too benefit by this process greatly.

Export clause for products/services manufactured in India irrespective of IP ownership, ownership stake in the JVs in India , Tax Issues relating to domestic consumption and export of such goods to OEM Country(ies) and Others need to be amicably and diligently worked out in the contracts.

We should approve only those offset credits that build and enhance our Defence & Aerospace Industry. How it is to be shared between Public and Private Players including MSMEs is a sensitive decision which surely needs strategic vision.

Brigadier(Retired) Sukhwindar Singh
http://www.indiandefenceindustry.com/
(An e-Hub for India Defence & Aerospace Ecosystem)

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