DRDO faces House panel fire

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence today tabled its 14th report in the Lok Sabha 8212; which was first carried in The Indian Express 8212; with strong strictures against DRDO for the delay in the development of some strategic weapons systems like Main Battle Tank MBT Arjun, Light Combat Aircraft LCA II, and the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme IGMDP.

8220;The delay in development of these weapons systems not only has caused significant loss of revenue but also delayed the timely procurement of weapons systems from foreign sources,8221; the committee said in its report. Noting that plan for building MBT Arjun was cleared in 1974, the committee said, 8220;Even after the lapse of more than 32 years, the nominated agency of DRDO could not execute the mission so far. Inordinate delay has escalated the original cost of MBT project to Rs 306 crore in 2005.8221;