By Praveer Purohit
Two important events took place in October last year. The first was the induction of LCH christened ‘Prachand’ into the IAF. The other was the foundation stone laying ceremony at Vadodara for manufacture of C-295 transport aircraft. A few months later, on 06 February this year, the naval version of Tejas successfully landed on INS Vikrant. A momentous occasion indeed when our indigenous fighter landed on our indigenous aircraft carrier. Seen together these events were hailed as a ‘coming of age’ moment in our quest for self-reliance. Interestingly in the same month a biographical series titled ‘Rocket Boys’ was released on OTT. This series was about India’s efforts and subsequent successful forays into space. Rewind to the fifties. That a fledgling democracy beset with poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, low economic growth could harbour dreams of being a space power could be easily dismissed as quixotic. The combination of a scientifically tempered Prime Minister who hand-held a group of passionate, dedicated and ‘never say die’ scientists persevered through innumerable trials and tribulations. We launched a rocket into space exactly a year after the conflict with China. It was no mean feat. Fortunately, the space programme continued to get support from the highest echelons. Resultantly the Indian space odyssey has been one of success and that too far less expensive than the space programmes of advanced nations. The reader may well deduce that we are now self-reliant in the aviation and aerospace sectors. The devil however, lies in the details.
While India is self-reliant in launch vehicles such as PSLV and GSLV, to put things in perspective, India’s contribution to the global space economy is only about 2%. We are dependent on foreign sources for carbon fibre and electronics required in space. Cut to aviation and to put it mildly, our record is unexciting. The defence services have been predominantly import dependent. The Marut project was aimed at building our own fighter aircraft. Unfortunately, it saw a premature end. There was a vacuum till the LCA project was sanctioned in 1983. It took three decades thereafter for it to be accorded Initial Operational Clearance-II (IOC-II). The slow progress and low production rate meant the IAF, much against its wishes, had to depend on imported fighters. All our indigenous products- Tejas, Dhruv, Prachand and HTT-40 are powered by imported engines. The major armament is imported. Despite indigenization achieved in avionics, communication and ancillary components, true self-reliance still eludes us.
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Admittedly mastering the full spectrum of high technology required in aviation and space is a tall order. It takes years of dedicated and focused effort, high and continuous investment, excellent human capital, a good industrial manufacturing base, investor friendly policies and some luck. Several policy initiatives have been taken to boost self-reliance. These include enhancing FDI in defence via the direct route to 74%, preference for Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) products, encouraging MSMEs, establishment of defence corridors, launching iDEX and so on. On 14 May, the government promulgated the fourth Positive Indigenization List that included 928 items. However, all these will take time to bear fruit. And faced with a bellicose China, we don’t have the luxury of time.
Study and review of past events offers some interesting lessons as we plan our future flight path. Take the example of ISRO. It was in May 1992 when the US banned exports to ISRO for a period of two years. Realizing that over dependence on imports was a bad idea for a sustainable future, a conference on indigenisation was planned and organised by ISRO in Bangalore. Extremely dedicated scientists helmed this drive. Rising to the challenge, small scale industries were the first to produce results. Several components and material level items were indigenised successfully. These technocrat MSME’s comprised first or second-generation entrepreneurs who were highly dedicated, driven by passion and an honour to support our space programme. Alas, despite their fervour and pride of indigenisation, the business was very small and economics discouraged more industries to join the bandwagon. The intensive testing, qualification, and trial use protocols meant the gestation period was anywhere between 5 to 10 years before reasonable business was obtained by industry. This process, while essential for ISRO, was unaffordable to MSMEs. Component level indigenisation was not sufficient for ISRO and so the slightly larger units came into play and took up production of sub-systems developed by ISRO. The policy lacuna was that there was no liability on the larger private players to source components from those MSMEs who had strenuously worked for years and against many odds to produce quality components for ISRO.
While self-reliance is noble, we cannot lose sight of reality. In this era of inter-dependencies, fruitful collaborations can and must be actively pursued. Our first launch in 1963 was an American Nike Apache rocket. The French supplied us with the sodium vapour payload. Our first (and only) astronaut embarked on a Soviet spacecraft. Similarly in aviation, it would surprise the reader that the F-35 is built and sustained by 1900 suppliers across 48 states in the US and 10 countries! Our approach in military aviation must be to completely indigenize low and mid-range components and sub-systems in the next five years. For the high-tech ones such as engines, gear boxes etc, a longer time frame say 10 to 15 years is required. We ought to proceed by first manufacturing small/mid-sized aero-engines for UAVs and trainer aircraft. Simultaneously make it attractive for private players to collaborate with established foreign manufacturers to set up design and development projects (in India) for larger engines used in frontline fighter aircraft. Simple and investor friendly policies that include liberal labour laws, ease of doing business and consistency in policy are things that come to mind.
Developing human capital is an equally important aspect. A special project involving industry bodies such as CII and FICCI that selects and sponsors say 100 talented engineers every year and sends them for specialized courses/ training in aviation/aerospace technology to reputed universities abroad could be embarked upon. The caveat being these people will have to work in Indian aviation/aerospace manufacturing entities for at least 10 years.
Our strategic partnerships with countries such as the US and France must be gainfully leveraged to either collaborate or acquire, assimilate, and manufacture high technology systems. Sure, it is not easy for them to part with intellectual property. The high price of a few niche technologies should not deter us. It is prudent to recall the words of Benjamin Graham who said, “Price is what you pay; value is what you get”.
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It is an established fact that innovation and quality flow from competitiveness. The near monopoly of DPSUs has stymied this aspect in aviation. It is time to take the bull by the horns and privatise them. India’s growth story has been fuelled by the private sector and given the opportunity it will deliver, far more economically and effectively.
The Department of Defence Production should include technocrats with sound industrial/corporate experience who should be empowered in policy making and creating a level playing field for the private sector. Developmental expenses in aviation are huge and adequate financial support to the involved MSMEs should be ensured. The fillip given to boost defence exports is laudable. The best manufacturing and marketing skills are in the private sector. If we let the private players unleash their spirits, it is then only a matter of time before our exports grow not just in numbers but more importantly in value.
Our flight towards self-reliance is airborne. It will encounter turbulence. Riding the turbulence, navigating to make good the TOT (Time Over Target) and executing a safe landing in this endeavour requires efforts aplenty. All stakeholders must be in ‘mission mode’. Till then it behoves upon all to shun rhetoric and grandstanding.
The writer served in the IAF for over 32 years. Besides being a Qualified Flying Instructor, he spearheaded leadership development and Professional Military Education for young officers of IAF.
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