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NEW DELHI: Former chief of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) VK Saraswat today rued the country's inability to build unmanned aerial vehicles and commercial aircraft, and said "we have become slaves to the borrowed technology".
He said more than the government, it was the industry's job to accelerate the pace of technology in the aerospace sector.
"We have become slaves to the borrowed technology. Whatever changes you will do in the terms of policy in making things, unless you have intrinsic capability to design and keep pace with emerging technology in the aerospace and defence you will never be able to make things on your own.
"No wonder we take so many years to do... I am surprised our UAV program Rustom 1, Rustom 2 keeps getting... We can't make a UAV in this country, how can we built a civil aviation aircraft," Saraswat, a member of NITI Aayog, said.
He was speaking at a seminar on "Opportunities In The Aerospace Sector and Policy Imperatives".
Rustom 1 and 2 are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), being developed by DRDO.
He said more than the government, it was the industry's job to accelerate the pace of technology in the aerospace sector. The former DRDO scientist added that the industry must not depend on the government all the time.
"Is the government responsible that we are not able to make a UAV aircraft. No, I don't think there is any policy that is required to accelerate UAV programme. Is the government responsible for not allowing the acceleration of the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) production?
"It is intrinsically the industry's job to take measures to accelerate pace of production... and create yourself as a business entity. You cannot create yourself as an entity which will always depend on inputs from the government. We have to make the industry grow into all the areas of quality improvement, technology, skills to do that," Saraswat said.
To give a boost to the local industry, the former DRDO Director General said, there should be an embargo on the Public Sector Undertakings that unless 16 per cent of their product is manufactured by the industry around it, they shall not be allowed to manufacture.
Saraswat said there is a lot of focus on aeronautic science in the country but little emphasis has been given to its commercial side.
"As a society we give impetus to the aeronautical science. We are not giving impetus to aeronautics as a business. It is confined to academic discussion on various topics like engine and so on. Rarely have we ventured into the business part of it," the former DRDO chief said.
Giving an example of dedicated freight corridor undertaken by the Ministry of Railways, he said the investment required for the project is around Rs 2 lakh crore.
"Investors are ready to invest in such kind of project, even if it is on the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model. But when it comes to the aeronautics, the risk averseness tendency of the industry comes out," he said.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent meeting with India Inc members, Saraswat said the former has also asked the industry leaders to take risk to convert the current global economic scenario into an opportunity.
He said when investments are being done in different sectors, it should also be done in the aeronautics sector.
"Why is it only in aeronautics that we are looking for a support system. Can't we not think of aeronautics as a means of transporting people, also in terms of business in transporting cargo," he said.
Former DRDO chief VK Saraswat Rues India's Inability to Build UAVs | Indian Defence News
