new Delhi: Delay of up to 569 weeks in submission of project proposals by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has forced the Indian defense forces to either import critical military technologies or do without them, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) shown in a report. ,
DRDO is tasked with developing technologies and weapon systems to help improve military preparedness.
“Out of 75 ongoing projects, Audit analyzed 40 ongoing projects… Audit observed that in 31 projects, there was abnormal delay in initiation of project proposals as well as sanctioning of projects,” ‘Management And the result of the mission mode,’ said the report. Projects in DRDO’, was tabled in Parliament last week. ThePrint has reported.
Mission Mode (MM) projects are high priority projects based on specific user (in the context of Army, Navy or Air Force) requirements, with a defined timeline for completion.
According to the report, against the stipulated period of 16 weeks for preparation of an integrated project proposal, DRDO took 17 to 569 weeks for proposal submission in 29 projects, which had a major impact on project approval.
Further, there was considerable delay ranging from 29 to 577 weeks in obtaining the approval of the Secretary, Department of Defense (R&D), after submission of receipt of user requisition.
The delay resulted from “change in technology used, import of the said items by the users, and non-availability of the essential item with the users,” the report said.
For example, the Air Headquarters had to import 2,000 cartridges in July 2014, even though it had estimated the requirements of the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) – the DRDO’s laboratory – for the development of these cartridges six years ago.
In July 2008, Air Headquarters estimated the need for development of the 0.5-inch (12 LL/195) cartridge to ARDE, with a delivery schedule of one year, as a replacement for the imported cartridge. However, ARDE took five years to analyze the methodology for developing the indigenous cartridge and approved the project in March 2014 at a cost of Rs 0.70 crore.
“The project was closed in July 2018 (Expenditure: Rs 0.50 crore) and was declared a success. Meanwhile, the Air Headquarters imported 2,000 rounds in July 2014,” the report said.
The CAG audit also found that DRDO had taken up new projects to develop certain products/technology, which were already being produced by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), which comes under the Ministry of Defence.
The CAG has recommended that DRDO should prepare its annual plan relating to MM projects in consultation with all the three services.
It has also suggested that DRDO should ensure that delay in preparation of project proposals is avoided to reduce the risk of obsolescence of technology/equipment.
Read also: CAG criticizes DRDO for delay in declaring projects successful despite failing to meet key targets
The case for the ‘secure mobile phone’
The CAG took note of instances where MM projects were taken up without the consent of the users.
For example, a project on ‘Development of Performance Assessment of Secure Mobile Phones’ was approved by the Director, CAIR (Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics – a DRDO laboratory) in May 2012 at a cost of Rs 4.95 crore.
The project was taken up by DRDO on the request of DG Signals (February 2012), however no initial Staff Qualitative Requirement/General Staff Qualitative Requirement (PSQR/GSQR) was reportedly given to DRDO.
MM projects are referred to DRDO by Army, Navy or Air Force as PSQR/GSQR, based on which feasibility study is done. It is after the feasibility study that the concerned service finalizes, modifies or drops the proposal.
In the matter of developing secure mobile phones, CAIR placed a supply order for supply of 300 handsets of E6 Nokia Smartphone to M/s BEL, Ghaziabad in December 2012. BEL procured 300 handsets at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore and supplied them to CAIR. The project was shelved in March 2014 after incurring a cost of Rs 3.12 crore.
The CAG report states, “CAIR closed the project without receiving evaluation of the software and phones by the users, declaring it a success… The users returned all the 300 smartphones in April 2016.” It was noted that the software was developed for a specific series of E6 Nokia phones, production of which was stopped by the phone maker.
In March 2021, the Army informed that the performance of the ‘Secure Mobile Phone’ was not found satisfactory in user trials and the project taken up by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was not successful.
(Editing by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)