The eight per cent hike in the interim defence budget 2019-20 is bound to further intensify the resource problem of the MoD, which is already battling a massive shortage of funds.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• February 04, 2019
• Issue Brief

It is important to pay greater attention to the system of costing followed by the MoD given that costing errors could result in the sanctioning of an unaffordable procurement programme, contract being awarded at a higher price, cost and time overruns, and default on contractual commitments.

• Amit Cowshish
• September 27, 2018
• IDSA Comments

It is administratively easy and politically appealing to debar an errant entity, but the unintended consequences of debarment can be challenging to handle in high-technology areas such as defence

• Sandeep Verma
• September 11, 2018
• Issue Brief

The Brief argues that MoD’s total allocations should be considered for any discussion on defence expenditure since the official defence expenditure does not capture all the expenses that the government incurs on national defence efforts.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• August 20, 2018
• Issue Brief

The Defence Planning Committee needs to activate its ‘Plan and Capability Development’ Sub-committee and task them to review the 13th Defence Plan in a time bound manner.

• Vinay Kaushal
• August 14, 2018
• IDSA Comments

India appears to be failing to consider the geopolitical and foreign policy fallouts from signing the so-called foundational military pacts with the United States.

• P. Stobdan
• June 25, 2018
• IDSA Comments

Mutual and shared interests between India and the US must form the basis of an enduring solution to the quandary presented by the provisions of the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act.

• Amit Cowshish
• June 14, 2018
• IDSA Comments

While the provisions of the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) are unlikely to be imposed on India anytime soon, it is nonetheless likely to prove a dampener on an otherwise booming defence relationship between India and the United States.

• Laxman Kumar Behera , G. Balachandran
• April 26, 2018
• Issue Brief

The Cell will remain hamstrung if its powers are not clearly defined, especially in regard to securing budgetary support which is to be provided by the Director General of Quality Assurance.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 24, 2018
• IDSA Comments

With the powerful DPC in place and the NSA assuming the role of de facto CDS for all practical purposes other than in operational matters, the defence planning process is expected to become more rational and provide a boost to defence preparedness.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• April 19, 2018
• IDSA Comments

Objectives and resources have to be in sync with each other and if adequate resources cannot be provided objectives have to be suitably recalibrated and alternative ways found to achieve them.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 16, 2018
• IDSA Comments

The challenge lies in demonstrating to potential importers that India, currently the world’s largest arms importer, has the capacity to manufacture and export the equipment required by their armed forces.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 09, 2018
• IDSA Comments

The Draft Defence Production Policy 2018, which aims to promote the Make in India initiative in the defence sector and create a world-class arms manufacturing base, faces a number of challenges, which, if left unaddressed, may limit its usefulness.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• April 04, 2018
• IDSA Comments

The promises contained in the recently released draft are so intertwined that a comprehensive action plan would be required to implement all of them almost simultaneously for achieving the policy objective.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 02, 2018
• IDSA Comments

The new system of classifying enterprises based on annual turnover will be more reliable, transparent and objective as the qualifying criteria will be verifiable with reference to the data available in the Goods and Services Tax network.

• Amit Cowshish
• March 13, 2018
• IDSA Comments

This Issue Brief highlights five major issues and concerns that may merit the SCoD’s attention while examining the latest Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Defence.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• February 26, 2018
• Issue Brief

Like in the past several years, the defence budget for 2018-19 also grew marginally, with much of the growth being cornered by rising manpower cost.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• February 02, 2018
• Issue Brief

Innovative ways will have to be examined and existing systems, practices and procedures need to be questioned for finding optimum solutions to relieve budget stress.

• Vinay Kaushal
• January 29, 2018
• Issue Brief

The benchmark price could be different from the initial cost estimate because, in many cases, the negotiation stage is reached several years after in-principle approval.

• Amit Cowshish
• November 20, 2017
• IDSA Comments

Sector-specific micro parameters that have a bearing on the ease of doing business need to be identified and quantified.

• Amit Cowshish
• October 05, 2017
• IDSA Comments