Indian Procurement Reform is Real, Modi Tells Aero India
Neelam Mathews Feb 18, 2015 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the February 18 opening of the Aero India show in Bangalore signaled that his government intends to fulfill its promises to reform the country’s defense procurement policies. Exhibitors responded positively to the prospect that India’s leaders might finally put an end to years of what many in the industry view as gross inefficiency and missed opportunity. Modi, elected last year on a platform of economic reform, acknowledged that a key plank of his reform agenda is opening up opportunities for India’s private sector aerospace and defense companies so that not all partnerships with Western manufacturers have to be channeled through state-controlled entities that have often struggled to manage programs effectively. “Our defense industry will succeed more if we can transform the manufacturing sector in India,” Modi told show visitors in a speech that reiterated the key objectives of his “Make...