Monday, March 18, 2013

DRDO Reasons for Delays - No surprises!



Posted by- Neelam Mathews
March 18, 2013

Answering a question in Parliament today defense minister said some of the major projects of Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which are lagging behind schedule are given below:-

Project
Probable Date of Completion (PDC)
Original
Revised
Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Phase-ll
December 2008
December 2012*
Naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA, Navy) Phase-I
March 2010
December 2014
Aero-engine Kaveri
December 1996
December 2009#
Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) System
October 2011
March 2014
Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM)
May 2011
December 2015

            *PDC is likely to be extended up to March 2015.
                #PDC has been extended within the sanctioned cost and scope.

            The following are some of the reasons for delay in completion of the above projects:-
(i)        Ab-initio development of the state-of-the-art technologies.
(ii)       Non-availability of trained/skilled manpower.
(iii)    Non-availability of infrastructure /test facilities in the country.
(iv)          Technical/technological complexities.
(v)          Non-availability of critical components/equipment/materials and denial of technologies by the technologically advanced countries.
(vi)          Enhanced User's requirements or change in specifications during development.
(vii)         Increase in the scope of work.
(viii)       Extended /long-drawn user trials.
(ix)           Failure of some of the components during testing/trials.

However, scientists are being recruited regularly through Direct Advertisement, Campus Recruitments from IITs, IISc & NITs, Registration of Students with Scholastic Aptitude (ROSSA) Scheme, Non Resident Indians (NRIs) Scheme, Lateral Entry Scheme, etc. as per the requirements of the ongoing and futuristic projects.
            The ratio of scientists to the total strength of manpower of DRDO is approximately 1:3.
            The following steps have been taken by the DRDO to complete the ongoing projects in time:-
(i)          Consortium approach is being used for design, development and fabrication of critical components.
(ii)        Three-tier project monitoring approach has been instituted in the major projects/programmes.
(iii)       Project Monitoring Review Committee (PMRC) and Project Appraisal and Review Committee (PARC) meetings are held regularly to monitor the progress of ongoing projects/programmes.
(iv)       Concurrent engineering approach has been adopted in technology intensive projects to minimize time-lag between development and productionisation of the systems.
(v)         Information Technology and modern management techniques are being applied.
(vi)       Encouraging joint funding by users to ensure their commitment towards earliest completion.
(vii)     Promoting synergy and better co-ordination among User Services, DRDO and production agencies through cluster meetings.
            

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