One Rank One Pension Scheme

One Rank One Pension Scheme

Government is aware that Ex-Servicemen Associations have been agitating for implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) Scheme from 2008 onwards.

The policy of “One Rank One Pension” has been adopted by the Government to address the pension disparities, in the budget 2014-15.

The modalities for implementation of OROP are under consideration of the Government. It will be implemented once the modalities are approved by the Government.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Dr. Shashi Tharoor and Shri Ninong Eringin LokSabha today.


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Chinese Incursions

There is no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China. There are areas along the border where India and China have differing perception of LAC. Due to both sides undertaking patrolling upto their perception of the LAC, transgressions do occur.

To resolve the border disputes, the two sides have appointed Special Representative (SR) to explore the framework for a boundary settlement from the political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship. The 18th round of Special Representative talks on the India-China boundary question was held in New Delhi from 20-22, March, 2015. India and China are committed to resolve bilateral issues through dialogue and peaceful negotiations and in a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable manner.

Government is fully seized of the security needs of the country. Government regularly reviews the threat perception to secure our borders and protect national interest. Appropriate measures are taken from time to time to maintain / upgrade the country’s defence preparedness along the borders to safeguard the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of India. Military capacity enhancement and modernization of armed forces including armament and ammunition is a dynamic and continuous process and is done in consonance with our threat perception.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Nimmala Kristappa and others in Lok Sabha today.

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Celebrations Relating to War with Pakistan

The celebrations of fifty years of victory in Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 would include events like wreath laying at Amar JawanJyoti (India Gate), tri-service seminar / exhibition, victory carnival, musical evening etc.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri C. R. Patil in Lok Sabha today.

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Integrated Air Command and Control System

The Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) is being implemented in phases. While 5 nodes are already operational, the proposal to extend IACCS across all operational commands including Andaman Nicobar Command (ANC) is under progress.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri R. Parthipan in Lok Sabha today.

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Industrial Licences to Defence Sector

Total 60 Industrial Licence applications for defence sector are presently pending with the Government.

Total 287 Industrial Licenses have been issued till date in defence sector. Since June 2014, 70 Industrial Licenses have been issued in the defence sector. Some of the proposals for which licenses have been issued were pending since 2009 as necessary formalities / processes were not complete.

Steps taken by the Government to boost private participation for defence manufacturing in India are given below :

• The Defence Products List for the purpose of issuing Industrial Licences (ILs) under IDR Act has been revised and most of the components, parts, sub-systems, testing equipment, production equipment have been removed from the List, so as to reduce the entry barriers for the industry, particularly small & medium segment.

• Process of applying for Industrial License (IL) and Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) has been made completely online and this service is now available to entrepreneurs on 24X7 basis at eBiz website without human interface.

• Guidelines have been issued to streamline the processing of applications for grant of extension of validity of Industrial License.

• The initial validity of the Industrial Licence granted under the IDR Act has been increased from 3 years to 7 years with a provision to further extend it by 3 years on a case-to-case basis.

• Partial commencement of production is treated as commencement of production of all the items included in the license.

• The ‘Security Manual for Licensed Defence Industry’ has been issued. With the issue of the Security Manual, the requirement of affidavit from the applicants, has been done away with.

• Restriction of annual capacity in the Industrial License for Defence Sector has been removed.

• Licensee has been allowed to sell the defence items to the Government entities under the control of MHA, PSUs, State Governments and Other Defence Licensee companies without approval of Department of Defence production.

• Application Forms for Industrial License & Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum have been simplified.

• The advanced version of NIC Code (NIC 2008) has been adopted, which is a highly contemporary industrial classification.

• To establish a level-playing field between Indian private sector and the public sector, the anomalies in excise duty/ custom duty have been removed. As per the revised policy, all Indian industries (public and private) are subjected to the same kind of excise and custom duty levies.

• To promote the participation of private sector, particularly SMEs for defence manufacturing, Outsourcing and Vendor Development Guidelines for DPSUs and OFB have been formulated and circulated to them. The guidelines mandate that each DPSU and OFB to have a short-term and long-term outsourcing and vendor development plan to gradually increase the outsourcing from private sector including SMEs. The guidelines also include vendor development for import substitution.

• The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the issue of No Objection Certificate (NOC) for export of military stores has been revised and put on the website. Under the revised SOP, the requirement of End User Certificate (EUC) to be countersigned/ stamped by the Government authorities has been done away with for the export of parts, components, sub-systems etc.

• The list of military stores has been finalised and has been put in the public domain to make the process transparent and unambiguous. The process of receiving applications for NOC for export of military stores and for issuing NOC has been made online to reduce the delay and to remove human interface in the process.

• The FDI policy for the defence sector has been reviewed and as per the revised policy, the composite foreign investment upto 49% is allowed through Government route (FIPB) and beyond 49% with the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on case-to-case basis wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and state-of-the art technology in the country. Besides, the restrictions such as single largest Indian shareholder to hold at least 51% equity and complete restriction on Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) existing in the earlier policy have also been removed to facilitate investment in the sector.

• Recognising the need for promotion of defence exports to make the Indian defence industry economically sustainable, Defence Exports Strategy outlining the various steps to be taken, has been formulated and is put up in public domain.

• Preference to ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ & ‘Make’ categories of acquisition over ‘Buy (Global)’ category, thereby giving preference to Indian industry in procurement.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Shri Shrirang Appa Barne and others in Lok Sabha today.

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Coastal Security

The Indian Coast Guard has a total strength of 11,474 Personnel in various ranks. The ICG acts on actionable inputs provided by various national and state intelligence agencies. Based on these inputs ICG conducted 120 operations from 1st January 2012 to 15th July 2015.

The Government, after conducting the vulnerability/gap analysis along the coastline of the coastal States/Union Territories, has formulated a Coastal Security Scheme (CSS) with a view to strengthen security of the coastline of the country. Under Phase-I of the CSS, a total number of 73 Coastal Police Stations, 97 Check-Posts, 58 Out-Posts and 30 Barracks were established in all the coastal States/UTs. Similarly, 131 Coastal Police Stations, 60 Jetties and 10 Marine Operation Centers have been sanctioned to all the coastal States/UTs under Phase-II of the CSS.

No such proposal is under consideration. However, Government attaches utmost importance to nation’s coastal security and surveillance. Review and monitoring of coastal security mechanism is a continuous process. Several measures to strengthen Coastal Security, including improving surveillance mechanism and enhanced patrolling by security agencies following an integrated approach have been put in place. Joint operational exercises are conducted on regular basis among Navy, Coast Guard, Coastal Police, customs and others. The intelligence mechanism has been streamlined through the creation of Joint Operation Centers and multi-agency coordination mechanism. Installation of radars covering the country’s coastline and islands is also an essential part of this process. Deployment of assets is done as per threat inputs/perceptions and requirements. The Coast Guard has been adequately equipped to face the challenges of national security and the role assigned to it by the Government.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Ramesh Chander Kaushik and others in Lok Sabha today.

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Self Reliance in Defence Production

The Defence Production Policy promulgated in 2011, aims at achieving substantive self-reliance in the design, development and production of equipment, weapon systems, platforms required for defence in as early a time frame possible; creating conditions conducive for the private industry to take an active role in this endeavour; enhancing potential of SMEs in indigenisation and broadening the defence R&D base of the country.

In pursuance of the Policy of achieving substantial self-reliance in Defence Production, the Government has taken several initiatives to promote participation of domestic defence industries in Defence Production and Procurement. These include, preference to ‘Buy (Indian)’ and ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ categories of acquisition over ‘Buy (Global)’, liberalisation of FDI and Industrial Licensing Policy, Level Playing Field in respect of Customs / Excise Duties between private sector and the public sector, etc.

The policy of achieving self-reliance in Defence Production is pursued through various policy initiatives, as mentioned above, and no specific fund allocation for the purpose has been made. However, the Government in the Union Budget 2014-15 has announced setting up of a Technology Development Fund with an initial sum of Rs.100crore for providing financial support to Indian industry, including SMEs as well as Academic, Scientific and Research & Development (R&D) Institutions for development of defence equipment / systems that enhances cutting edge technology in the country.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Shrimati Vasanthi M in Lok Sabha today.

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Missing of IAF Aircraft

During a routine night surveillance on 08 June 2015, Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Dornier aircraft CG-791 suddenly disappeared from the radar located at Trichy when it was 32 miles north-east of Karaikal. After extensive search by the ICG, Navy and other agencies, wreckage of the aircraft was recovered on 10 July 2015.

Only one aircraft (CG-791) as mentioned in reply to part (a) & (b) has gone missing during the last three years and the current year.

Advanced technology including radar system is available with the defence forces. Overflying aircrafts are continuously tracked by land based radar. Further, the aircrafts are also equipped with Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), Personal Rescue Beacon (PRB) Airborne Locator System (ALS) and Sonar Locator Beacon (SLB). In addition, the Government has also used specialized technologies available with Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and other agencies to successfully locate the wreckage of the missing aircraft.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri M. Chandrakasi and Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in Lok Sabha today.

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Facilities to Defence Personnel

Pay and allowances and other benefits / facilities are provided to the Armed Forces Personnel as per Government orders issued from time to time. Apart from pay, the Armed Forces Personnel deployed on borders in tough conditions, are being given certain compensatory allowances i.e. Field Area Allowance, Siachen Allowance, High Altitude Allowance, Island Special Duty Allowance, etc. and special clothing and ration as per extant rules. Improvement of facilities, service conditions, pay and allowances of the Armed Forces personnel is also a continuous process.

Further, provisioning of facilities to soldiers is a command function. It is ensured that all soldiers are provided facilities as per their entitlements. However, if in any case it is found that this is not done, suitable action is taken if any personnel is found to be erring.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Gopal Shetty in Lok Sabha today.

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Killing of Soldiers by Militants

An Army vehicle convoy was ambushed by well-armed terrorists in general area Parlon in Chandel District / Manipur on 4th June, 2015. The incident resulted in 18 fatal and 15 non-fatal Army casualties. Two terrorists were killed in retaliatory fire and one AK-47 Rifle was recovered. The Army has lodged a FIR in the case and the National investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating the incident.

Efforts have been made for seamless interface amongst all intelligence agencies and units conducting Counter Terrorism operations so as to collate, analyse and disseminate intelligence in a timely manner.Surgical intelligence based operations were conducted along Indo-Myanmar border to counter the planned attack by terrorists and significant casualities were inflicted on them.

The issue of alleged presence of Indian Insurgent Groups in Myanmar are regularly taken up with the Government of Myanmar. The issue was again taken up with the Government of Myanmar, including at the highest level in June, 2015. Government of Myanmar has reiterated its assurance that its territory would not be allowed to be used for activities inimical to India.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Adhalrao Patil Shivajirao and others in Lok Sabha today.

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Problems of People in Cantonment Boards

Reports and representations are received from time to time about difficulties faced by residents of Cantonment Board areas. These cover subjects such as closure of roads, delay in mutation of properties, renewal of leases, building bye-laws and provision of civic amenities.

Suggestions are received from time to time from various quarters, for transfer of civil areas within cantonments to adjoining municipalities / panchayats. However, Cantonment Boards being deemed municipalities already provide a wide variety of municipal services / civic amenities to their residents.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Virender Kashyap in Lok Sabha today.

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Shortage of Fighter Aircraft

The requirement of fighter aircraft is periodically reviewed to ensure that the operational requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are met. The IAF is in the process of inducting additional Su-30 MKI aircraft manufactured under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which is manufactured indigenously by HAL. These would augment the operational strength of the IAF. Further, as per the India-France Joint Statement issued by the two countries during the Prime Minister’s visit to France, Government of India conveyed to the Government of France that in view of the critical operational necessity for Multirole Combat Aircraft for IAF, Government of India would like to acquire (36) Rafale jets in fly-away condition as quickly as possible. The two leaders agreed to conclude an Inter-Governmental Agreement for supply of the aircraft on terms that would be better than conveyed by Dassault Aviation as part of a separate process underway, the delivery would be in time-frame that would be compatible with the operational requirement of IAF; and that the aircraft and associated systems and weapons would be delivered on the same configuration as had been tested and approved by Indian Air Force, and with a longer maintenance responsibility by France.

A Negotiating Team has been constituted to negotiate the terms and conditions of the procurement of 36 Rafale jets and recommend a draft agreement. The meetings of the Indian Negotiating team with the French side have commenced.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Dr. A Sampath and others in Lok Sabha today.

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Indigenous Production of Defence Equipment

The capital procurement of defence equipment / weapons for the Indian Army is guided by provisions of Defence Procurement Procedure-2013 wherein preference is accorded to ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ and ‘Make’ categorisation over ‘Buy (Global)’ & ‘Buy and Make (Global)’ categorisation, thereby giving priority to indigenous weapons / equipment. The Government has taken following major steps to promote indigenous manufacturing capabilities of defence equipment in the country:-

• FDI policy in defence sector has been reviewed and as per the revised policy, composite foreign investment upto 49% is allowed through Government route (FIPB) and beyond 49%, with the approval of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on case-to-case basis, wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and state-of-the-art technology in the country. Besides, the restrictions such as single largest Indian shareholder to hold atleast 51% equity and complete restriction on Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) existing in the earlier policy have also been removed to facilitate investments in the sector.

• To promote the participation of private sector, particularly SMEs for defence manufacturing, Outsourcing and Vendor Development Guidelines for DPSUs and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) have been formulated. The guidelines mandate that each DPSU and OFB to have a short-term and long-term outsourcing and vendor development plan to ‘gradually, increase the outsourcing from private sector including SMEs. The guidelines also include vendor development for import substitution.

• To establish a level-playing field between Indian private sector and the public sector, the anomalies in excise duty / custom duty have been removed. As per the revised policy, uniform Custom & excise duties shall be levied on all companies in the public & private sector.

• The Defence Products List for the purpose of issuing Industrial Licences (ILs) under IDR Act, has been revised and most of the components, parts, sub-systems, testing equipment, production equipment have been removed from the list, so as to reduce the entry barriers for the industry, particularly small & medium segment.

• The initial validity of the Industrial Licence granted under the IDR Act has been increased from 3 years to 7 years with a provision to further extend it by 3 years on a case-to-case basis.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Shrimati Ranjanben Bhatt in Lok Sabha today.

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Chief of Defence Staff

The Group of Ministers (GOM) report on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, which was presented to Government in February, 2001 had recommended, inter-alia, the creation of the institution of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). It was decided that Government would take a view on the issue of creation of the post of the CDS after consulting the political parties. The consultation process is in progress.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Manish Girri in Lok Sabha today.

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Missing of Soldiers during Indo-Pakistan Wars

Fifty four (54) missing defence personnel of 1965 and 1971 wars are believed to be in the custody in Pakistan. The Government has repeatedly been taking up the matter with the Pakistan Government for the release of the missing defence personnel believed to be in Pakistan’s custody. However, Pakistan does not acknowledge the presence of any such personnel in its custody. A delegation of 14 relatives of missing defence personnel also visited 10 Jails in Pakistan during 1-14 June, 2007. The delegation, however, could not conclusively confirm the physical presence of any missing defence personnel.

The families of these missing defence personnel were given liberalized pensionary / rehabilitation benefits as per extant rules. Subsequently, payment of service and retirement benefits have been made to the next of kin of the 38 (including one from Border Security Force) out of 54 missing defence personnel believed to be in the custody in Pakistan, as if they had retired on superannuation, in compliance of judgement dated 23.12.2011 passed by Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat. In case of 13 missing defence personnel, dues have been deposited in the High Court of Gujarat due to non availability of Next of Kin / legal heirs or non-establishment of legal heirship of the claimant. Details of 03 missing defence personnel are not known and the Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat has been apprised in this regard.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Charanjeet Singh Rori And Shri K. Ashok Kumar in Lok Sabha today.

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Defence Co-Operation with Israel

A Memorandum of Undertakings (MoU) has been signed in July 2005 between Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and Directorate of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D), Israel on Defence Research and Development (R&D) Cooperation.

DRDO has several defence R&D programmes with the DDR&D, Israel. Under this, Israel shares technology information, know-how, know-why and several R&D, collaborative research projects are undertaken. Further, DRDO and DDR&D meet annually under the aegis of Indo-Israel Management Council (IIMC) to pursue and discuss defence R&D activities.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Feroze Varun Gandhi in Lok Sabha today.

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Private Participation in Defence Production

Since the opening of the private sector participation in defence sector, a total of 287 Industrial Licenses have been issued till date. Further, the FDI amounting to US$ 5.02 million has been received in the defence industry sector so far. The information relating to actual investment made in respect of Industrial Licenses is not available.

Some of the major initiatives taken by the Government to attract investment from domestic private sector companies in defence production are given below:-

o The Defence Products List for the purpose of issuing Industrial Licences (ILs) under IDR Act has been revised and most of the components, parts, sub-systems, testing equipment, production equipment have been removed from the List, so as to reduce the entry barriers for the industry, particularly small & medium segment.

o Process of applying for Industrial License (IL) and Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) has been made completely online and this service is now available to entrepreneurs on 24X7 basis at eBiz website without human interface.

o Guidelines have been issued to streamline the processing of applications for grant of extension of validity of Industrial License.

o The initial validity of the Industrial Licence granted under the IDR Act has been increased from 3 years to 7 years with a provision to further extend it by 3 years on a case-to-case basis.

o Partial commencement of production is treated as commencement of production of all the items included in the license.

o The ‘Security Manual for Licensed Defence Industry’ has been issued. With the issue of the Security Manual, the requirement of affidavit from the applicants, has been done away with.

o Restriction of annual capacity in the Industrial License for Defence Sector has been removed.

o Licensee has been allowed to sell the defence items to the Government entities under the control of MHA, PSUs, State Governments and Other Defence Licensee companies without approval of Department of Defence production.

o Application Forms for Industrial License & Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum have been simplified.

o The advanced version of NIC Code (NIC 2008) has been adopted, which is a highly contemporary industrial classification.

o To establish a level-playing field between Indian private sector and the public sector, the anomalies in excise duty/ custom duty have been removed. As per the revised policy, all Indian industries (public and private) are subjected to the same kind of excise and custom duty levies.

o To promote the participation of private sector, particularly SMEs for defence manufacturing, Outsourcing and Vendor Development Guidelines for DPSUs and OFB have been formulated and circulated to them. The guidelines mandate that each DPSU and OFB to have a short-term and long-term outsourcing and vendor development plan to gradually increase the outsourcing from private sector including SMEs. The guidelines also include vendor development for import substitution.

o The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the issue of No Objection Certificate (NOC) for export of military stores has been revised and put on the website. Under the revised SOP, the requirement of End User Certificate (EUC) to be countersigned/ stamped by the Government authorities has been done away with for the export of parts, components, sub-systems etc.

o The list of military stores has been finalised and has been put in the public domain to make the process transparent and unambiguous. The process of receiving applications for NOC for export of military stores and for issuing NOC has been made online to reduce the delay and to remove human interface in the process.

o The FDI policy for the defence sector has been reviewed and as per the revised policy, the composite foreign investment upto 49% is allowed through Government route (FIPB) and beyond 49% with the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on case-to-case basis wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and state-of-the art technology in the country. Besides, the restrictions such as single largest Indian shareholder to hold at least 51% equity and complete restriction on Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) existing in the earlier policy have also been removed to facilitate investment in the sector.

o Recognising the need for promotion of defence exports to make the Indian defence industry economically sustainable, Defence Exports Strategy outlining the various steps to be taken, has been formulated and is put up in public domain.

o Preference to ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ & ‘Make’ categories of acquisition over ‘Buy (Global)’ category, thereby giving preference to Indian industry in procurement.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Shrimati Rama Devi in Lok Sabha today.

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Export of Defence Equipment 

The details of the defence equipment exported to various countries in last one year by Defence PSUs, Ordinance Factory Board (OFB) and Private Sector Companies (based on the NOCs issued) are as under :-

Sl. No.	Country	Items exported 2014-15
1.	Afghanistan	Cheetal Helicopters, Stallion 4X4 MK IV with cargo body
2.	Ecuador	Dhruv Helicopters spares and services.
3.	Germany	Mechanical parts, Fuze Point detonating M 572 (assembled with no explosives), light mechanical engineering
4.	Indonesia	Spares for TRS 2215 Radar
5.	Israel	Work packages, Compass, LRF, TIFCS, TIFCS Cable set, TIFCS Installation Kit
6.	Italy	Kavach Mod II
7.	Malaysia	SU-30 Avionics, Helicopter and MIG spares & services
8.	Mauritius	Dhruv/ Dornier & Helicopter Spares & services, Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), Ammunitions
9.	Myanmar	RAWL-02 MK-III, Sonar HMS-X
10.	Namibia	CH/CK Helicopter, spares and rotables
11.	Nepal	ALH Helicopter and CH/CK spares and rotables, ammunition, accessories for ammunition, Bulletproof Vest and Fragmentation Jacket, 5.56 mm steel core (28.79,378 pieces).
12.	Oman	Jaguar spares and services, training on engine shaft alignment
13.	Russia	MIG/SU-30 spares and services, RWR, TP for PCB’s testing
14.	Singapore	Multipurpose support vessel
15.	Sri Lanka	Indra MK-II Spares, Lion Battery charger, Secure VHF Handheld Radio LVP 285 & services
16.	Suriname	CH/CK Helicopter, spares and services
17.	Switzerland	Cable Looms
18.	Turkey	Bullet Proof Vest + Plates, Helmet, Bullet proof ceramic panel.
19.	UAE	Vacuum Interrupter
20.	UK	Work packages/ forgings, Transmitting tubes
21.	USA	Work packages/ forgings, Electronic assemblies, Flight Control panel, Mechanical parts, Vacuum Interrupter
22.	Republic of Korea	Turbocharger

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has a negative list of countries for defence export and views of MEA are taken into account before granting No Objection (NOC) for export to such countries.

The Companies getting export orders apply to the Department of Defence Production (DDP) for NOC for export and the same is issued as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which has also been put in public domain.  The Government has taken several steps to encourage defence exports.  Some of the major initiatives are as below:-

·         Formulation of a Defence Export Strategy outlining the policy and procedural initiatives to be taken by the Government.

·         Constitution of a Defence Export Steering Committee (DESC) to deliberate and decide policy and procedural issues related to defence exports.

·         The SOP for issue of NOC for export has been simplified and streamlined and has been put in the public domain to make the process transparent and unambiguous.

·         The processing of receiving the applications for NOC for export and the process for issuing NOC have been made online.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Shri K.R.P. Prabakaran and Shri Pralhad Joshi in Lok Sabha today.

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Vacant Posts in Defence Forces 

Details of vacant posts of officers and soldiers in the Armed Forces (excluding Medical and Dental Branch), rank wise are as under:

Army		Navy (As on 1.7.2015)		Air Force
Officers	Other Ranks	Officers	Sailors	Officers	Airmen
9642 (As on 1.1.2015)	23909* (As on 1.4.2015)	1779	11653**	Nil	6664****

*against this vacancy in the Army 68,331 recruits are under training.

**against this vacancy in the Navy 2247 recruits are under training.

***against this vacancy in the Air Force 6152 recruits are under training.

Some of the major reasons for shortage in Armed Forces include increase in authorized strength due to new accretions in force level from time to time, availability of attractive alternative career avenues, stringent selection criteria, and difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk.

Government has taken a number of measures to encourage the youth to join the Armed Forces, including sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions, media campaign etc.  Further, Government has taken various steps to make armed forces jobs attractive.  These include implementation of recommendations of the VI Central Pay Commission with improved pay structure, additional family accommodation through Married Accommodation Project (MAP) and improvement in promotion prospects in the Armed Forces.

Number of officers who have taken premature retirement from the Defence Forces during each of the last three years and the current year are as under:

Year	Army	Navy	Air Force
2012	275	132	157
2013	221	96	131
2014	120	91	108
2015	28 (As on 15.7.2015)	24 (As on 16.7.2015)	45 (As on 16.7.2015)

The Indian Defence Forces are suitably equipped, trained and organized to face the operational challenges and carry out their mandated task.  Operational preparedness of the Armed Forces is reviewed from time to time based on the threat perception.  Further, development of the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces to tackle the entire spectrum of security challenges is an ongoing process.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri MD. Badaruddoza Khan and others in Lok Sabha today.

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Crashes of Fighter Aircraft 

During the last three years and the current year (upto 20.07.2015)atotal of 20 fighter aircraft  (03 Sukhoi, 12  MiG  and  05 Jaguar) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have crashed as per the details below:

Year	No. of fighter aircraft crashed
	Sukhoi	MiG	Jaguar	Total
2012-13	01	02	01	04
2013-14	--	05	01	06
2014-15	01	04	02	07
2015-16 (upto 20.07.2015)	01	01	01	03

The main reasons for the crashes were Technical Defect and Human Error. .02 IAF personnel were killed and 02 civilian injured in these accidents.  The loss to the Government, in terms of value of aircraft and service property, in respect of 12 accidents assessed so far is estimated at Rs.386 crore and loss to civilian property is Rs.4,43,800/-.Ex-gratia amount paid as compensation to the victims, accident-wise is as under:

Date of accident	Aircraft crashed	IAF Personnel killed	Civilian injured	Amount paid (in Rs.)
12.02.2013	MiG-27	--	01	5,000
15.07.2013	MiG-21	01	--	10,00,000
27.05.2014	MiG-21	01	--	10,00,000

Every IAF aircraft accident / incident is thoroughly investigated by a Court of Inquiry (CoI) to ascertain the cause of accident and the recommendations of the completed Court of Inquiry are implemented.  Various preventive measures like invigoration of Aviation Safety Organization, streamlining of accident reporting procedure, analytical studies and quality audits of the aircraft fleets to identify vulnerable areas have been taken to reduce aircraft accidents.  Accident prevention programmes have also been given an added thrust to identify risk prone / hazardous areas specific to the aircraft fleets and operational environment to ensure safe practice / procedures.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri Kalikesh  N. Singh Deo in Lok Sabha today.

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Training to Defence Personnel 

Total number of defence personnel under training during the current year is as under:

Army	Navy	Air Force
45000 (approx)	10523	11979

Training imparted to defence personnel is at par with international standards and in tune with best practices from all over the world.  Training is contemporary and in accordance with the requirements.  Periodic review of training programme is carried out as and when necessary to keep pace with the latest developments.  New training content to train defence personnel on newly inducted weapon platforms / equipment / technology is continuously introduced.  Details of funds allocated for training during the last three years and the current year are as under:

   (Rs. in Crore)

Financial Year	Funds
2012-13	714.86 (Expenditure)
2013-14	811.13 (Expenditure)
2014-15	883.31 (Expenditure)
2015-16	1098.79 (Budget Estimate)

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Dr. J. Jayavardhan in Lok Sabha today.

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FDI in Defence Sector 

In pursuance to the Inter-Governmental Agreement between India and Russia signed in February 1998, a Joint Venture company BrahMos Aerospace, between the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) of India and NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia has been formed for design, development, production of a Supersonic Cruise Missile.  

FDI amounting to US$ 1.31 million has been received in the defence sector during the last three years and the current year.

Since opening up of FDI in defence sector, 34 proposals involving foreign investment have been approved so far.  The details of the approved proposals along with the items are as below :-

Sl. No.	Name of the JV/Implementing Company	Items of manufacture
1	M/s Multirole Transport Aircraft Ltd	Co-development & Co-production of a Multirole Transport Aircraft of 15-20 Ton category jointly with Russian partners.
2	M/s HAL-Edgewood Technologies Limited	Development and Manufacture of high technology miniature electronic modules and avionic systems for aerospace applications.
3	M/s HALBIT Avionics Private Limited	Design, Development, Market and Support products such as Aircraft Simulators and Services and to subsequently enhance the scope of products to airborne avionics products. Development of State of the Art technology.
4	M/s Bharat Electronics Ltd	Design, Development, marketing, supply and support of civilian and select defence Radars for Indian and global markets.
5	M/s Alpha-ITL Electro Optics Private Limited	Manufacture of optical goods and equipment and optical instruments.
6	M/s HBLElta Avionics Systems Private Limited	Radar, EW Systems, Electronics Communication systems.
7	M/s BF Systems Limited	To provide complete support for Light Weight Howitzer and other small & medium caliber weapons programs, inclusive of engineering, design & development, manufacturing services and upgrading.
8	M/s. Alpha Electronica Defence Systems Pvt. Ltd.	Production, assembling, testing, repair and support for EW equipment and systems for land/shipbased/airbased platforms.
9	M/s ArmetArmored Vehicles (India) Ltd.,	Manufacture of bodies (including Cabs) designed to be mounted on motor vehicles chassis for special purpose motor lorries, armoured cars etc.
10	M/s Samtel Thales Avionics Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi	Development, Manufacture & selling of helmet mounted sight display.
11	M/s Astra Micro wave Products Ltd, Hyderabad	Design, development, manufacture & supply of  components & sub-systems for wireless communication for application in defence, space & cellular communication.

12	M/s Mahindra Defense systems Ltd, New Delhi	Manufacture & marketing of defence equipment in the land sector.
13	M/s Taneja Aerospace & Aviation limited	(i) Armour panel for helicopter, (ii) Body armour.
14	M/s Vyoneesh Technologies Pvt Ltd., New Delhi	Manufacturing, Designing, Selling, Undertaking Overhauling and Maintenance Activities for all kind of Engg. And Technology Related Equipment and Products including Aircrafts.
15	M/s ICOMM Tele Ltd, Hyderabad.	Engaged in engineering, procurement and construction services in the telecommunication, power transmission and distribution, water and sewerage sectors, manufactures telecommunications and power transmission towers, research, development and manufacture of active telecommunications infrastructure and equipment for a variety of sectors including defence related telecommunications equipment.
16	M/s Lakshmi Machine Works Limited, Coimbatore	Manufacturing of entire range of Textile Spinning machinery. Proposed additional activities: manufacturing of parts, components and accessories for aircraft and spacecraft to be supplied to civil and defence sector.
17	M/s Tata Aerostructure Limited, Mumbai	Design, manufacture, supply procurement and life cycle support of advanced aerospace and aero structures items for defence aircrafts, helicopters, and unmanned airborne vehicles including empennages and centre wing boxes (NIC Code-377.8).
18	M/s Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Mumbai	Manufacturing, distributing, and marketing of products in the market segments of electronic warfare, military avionics, mobile systems (defence related) and radars (NIC code 359.4).
19	M/s ABG Shipyard Ltd, Mumbai	Existing Activities: Shipbuilding, ship repair(NIC Code: 3899 & 3402) Proposed Activities: Defence products: NICCode:370,359,359.4,365,366,367& 370.8.
20	M/s Jubilant Aeronautics Pvt Ltd, Delhi	Manufacture of different types of Unmanned Aerial Systems and accessories (NIC Code: 3770).

21	M/s Maini Precision Products Pvt Ltd.	Existing activities: Engaged in the business of manufacture and export of high precision parts for automotive, material handling, general engineering purposes. Proposed additional activities: to manufacture parts and accessories of aircraft and spacecrafts (NICCode:377.8).
22	M/s Park Controls & Communications Ltd, Bangalore	Existing Activities: Engaged in the business of defence Avionics solution provider. Proposed addition activities: activities to manufacture of onboard/data acquisitions systems, avionics, timing products, time code readers, ground based telemetry systems and other electronic aerospace and defence equipment.
23	M/s Rossell Aviation Private Ltd.	Proposed Activities: To engage in civil &defence aviation filed with focus on product support services, repair and maintenance facility, providing training solutions in project.
24	M/s Indian Rotorcraft Ltd.	To engage in the business of undertaking final assembly of both military and civil versions of AgustaWesland’sAW119Kx Helicopters.
25	M/s Tara Aerospace Systems Ltd, Mumbai	Existing: Manufacture of parts for civilian aircrafts. Proposed: Design, development, engineering, manufacturing, integration, assembly, testing and inspection and fixed-wing aircrafts, including products such as aerospace and aero structures components, kits and accessories in the defence sector.
26	M/s Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Mumbai	Defence Production.
27	M/s Space Era Materials and Processes Pvt Ltd.	Engaged in the business of design, development, manufacture, assembly, repair and overhaul of the equipment of telecommunication and avionics used in aircrafts, radars and other electrical and electronics defence components, aggregates and equipment in India.
28	M/s Track Systems India Private Limited	Manufacturing, assembling, marketing, trading, dealing in import and export of tracks and parts thereof and running gear components required for the defence sector.

29	M/s Amertec Systems Pvt Ltd.	Manufacturing of advanced electronic systems, test systems, simulators and electronic systems for military applications.
30	M/s Hical Technologies Pvt Ltd.	Manufacture of wiring, cable and harness for aeronautics and defence sectors (civil and military) and test benches.
31	M/s. BF Elbit Advanced Systems Pvt. Ltd.	Manufacture of Artillery Guns/Howitzers, Mortars, Ammunition, manufacture of Tactically protected vehicles.
32	M/s SasMos Het Technologies Limited	Existing: Assembly/Manufacturing of Cable Assembly, interconnection systems, Electrical & Electronic Panels for Aerospace & Defence applications. Proposed: Manufacturing of Electronic Warfare Sub-systems, Automatic Test Equipment, Avionics & Radar Sub-Systems, Unmanned Vehicle Sub-Systems, Command & Control Systems and Navigational Sub-systems and related parts and accessories for Airborne, Ground & Naval application in addition to existing activities.
33	M/s Quest Global Manufacturing Private Ltd	Manufacturing for Indian Defence Sector including defence aerospace and participate in offset program.
34	M/s Ideaforge Technology Pvt Ltd.	Existing Manufacturer of Unmanned Aerial Systems mainly supplied to defence sector.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Shri P.K. Biju and Shri Nishikant Dubey in Lok Sabha today.

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