The home ministry has allowed private security companies to deploy their staff for guarding and detection services at government installations. The private agencies would supplement the role of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that is entrusted with the task of providing security cover for all the important installations in the country.

The move while providing an additional level of security cover for several key public installations will also produce a big business opportunity for the R11,000 crore private security market in India which is expected to grow by 20-25% in the next five years.

As per the new norms, prior permission of the home ministry would be required if a PSU hires a private security company for such services. Also, such agencies (which are allowed duty on PSU installations) should not have foreigner as its MD or CEO or COO. The restrictions are aimed to prevent foreign nationals from exercising direct or indirect control in finalizing policies or influencing management of such agencies.

?The new norms for employing private security agencies would be conveyed to all the PSUs and their respective ministries soon,? the home ministry note said.

?The changes would also form part of private security policy which be announced soon,? said a government official privy to the development.

The changes follows the need for expanding security cover at key public and private installations after heightened security risk in wake of recent blast at Delhi High Court and several other blasts in the recent past in Delhi and Mumbai. The official security is plagued by manpower shortages that often leaves gaping loopholes making security set-up vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

The home ministry aims to create another layer of guards over and above the policemen and CISF jawans by involving private security in guarding process. a Further, these agencies are likely to be strengthened by including them in the official intelligence sharing network. Their personnel may also be allowed to use certain government-approved arms. The proposed opening up of the guarding work to private companies will also augment their revenues as, at present, they hardly mop up more than 5% from government work.

Rituraj Sinha , COO of India?s leading security company SIS Security Services, said, ? It is high time that private sector is involved with government security. In the US and Europe around 25% of revenues come from government service as compared to just 5% in India.There is a need for such joint effort to strengthen the intelligence network in the state following the terror attacks.?

The intelligence inputs provided by security guards deployed at several public places across the country can be a valuable source of information. The other significant players in the industry are G4S, Tops and Brinks Arya among others.

Industry statistics reveal that the country has just about 11.5 lakh policemen as opposed to 40 lakh private security personnel. The logic behind the proposal is to let private security agencies increasingly take up the task of manning courts, government buildings and other installations and let the police concentrate on intelligence gathering and other crucial ops. ?The role of police in frisking and manning installations should be reduced to the minimum as they have much more utility in intelligence gathering and protection,? a senior official in the home ministry told FE.

Under the planned security set-up, certain private security agencies will be roped in by the government for use at its various institutions. The new cadre of guards would be accredited by the government and its services could be mandated by both government and private agencies.

At a later stage, certain accredited private agencies may be roped in for intelligence sharing as well. ?Intelligence sharing is one sensitive area that is being considered, but further talks are needed to finalise the modalities,? said the official. A cabinet secretariat meeting six months ago had, in fact, delved on creating a larger intelligence network by involving private agencies.

The ministry is also in the final stages of allowing private security personnel to use non-prohibitive bore arms, with certain riders.