Board for defence acquisitions set up

The government has constituted a defence procurement board to oversee all activities related to acquisition on the capital account in the department of defence flowing out of 'buy' and 'buy and make' decisions, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha today.

The functions of the DPB, which is headed by the defence secretary, include coordination, supervision and monitoring of the acquisition process, Mukherjee said in reply to a question.

He said the Army was facing a shortage of 11,709 officers, while the shortage of officers in the Air Force and Navy stood at 470 and 1060, respectively, the minister said. The vacancies, he added, had been existing in the forces in varying degrees since 1950, 1953 and 1985, respectively.

Minister of State for Defence BK Handique informed the House that the government had allowed private companies to produce defence equipment.

As per the current policy, the private sector can manufacture any type of defence equipment subject to compulsory licensing, he said.