The mantra of “Make in India” appears to be by-passing defence production. Despite being one of the world’s largest importers of military stores ~ which confirms that a market exists ~ foreign weapons manufacturers have committed a pathetic Rs 1.17 crore over the last four years to FDI in this country.

That too despite the waiving of caps, offering a range of other incentives, and a lot of noise about transforming a “buying army” into a “building army” ~ which strategic experts contend is a true index of depth in the military sphere.

The miserable figure of Rs 1.17 crore has to be painfully contrasted with the reality that during the same period the nation signed 70 “capital procurement” contracts worth a comparatively whopping Rs 1.25 lakh crore for “got abroad” weapons and systems.

The less-than-flattering FDI figures were revealed in a written reply to a parliamentary query a few days back: not unexpectedly few details were disclosed, those would have further debunked frequent claims that indigenous production of defence stores had turned the corner, and FDI was reversing the debilitating trend of 60-65 per cent of the armed services’ requirements being procured from the international market, with the 30-35 per cent domestic production being at lower end of the technological scale.

There is a clear need for an expert group to examine this persisting weakness ~ politicians’ rhetoric would be counter-productive ~ that impacts the overall defence exercise. That the Rs 1.17 crore is a minor fraction of overall FDI must prove a trifle embarrassing for a government that claims to be according the forces the highest priority.

Many leading industrial houses have availed of the dismantling of the public sector’s monopoly in defence production, but their “intentions” have yet to be translated into hardware, their problems also merit consideration. Will a separate minister for defence production (as in the past) help de-clog the logjam? The present minister has many residual problems on her plate, and now her capacity (and relish) for political “scrapping” must prove somewhat distracting. For the forces that is.

Inconsistencies in the “shopping list” also create complications. When Manohar Parrikar (the previous minister) had announced a preference of a single-seater jetfighter to replace the obsolete MiG-21, leading industrial houses Tata and Adani had, respectively, entered into agreements with Lockheed Martin and the Swedish SAAB ~ now a two-seater is being favoured.

Similarly the Army now wants its standard rifle to have a 7.62 mm bore, till not long ago it had hailed 5.56 weapons, and the INSAS “family” was built around that bore. Inconsistencies apart, what must deter FDI is the sick reality that there are political risks to be run when entering into defence arrangements with India ~ the allegations of kickbacks could impair their reputation and impact global sales. As Bofors, HDW, Agusta Westland, and now Dassault (Rafale) would confirm.