An agreement to jointly manufacture spares in India was signed in September and ministry has now drafted guidelines to implement it, with the first step being identifying spares that will be required for at least 5 years by the military. Defence ministry has been working to implement an agreement to manufacture spares and equipment for Russian origin equipment in India

NEW DELHI: Ahead of defence minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Moscow, the ministry has been working to implement an agreement to manufacture spares and equipment for Russian origin equipment in India and plans to identify specific items and encourage joint ventures for production.

An agreement to jointly manufacture spares in India was signed in September and the ministry has now drafted guidelines to implement it, with the first step being identifying spares that will be required for at least five years by the military.

While the Russian and Indian governments will coordinate the effort, eyebrows have been raised over the nomination of industry body SIDM (Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers) that has been tasked with measuring the “competence” of the industry and identifying specific companies that would be allowed to take part in the initiative.

The Indian government does not intend to interfere in the creation of joint ventures between Russian equipment manufacturers and the Indian industry but plans to maintain a database that would be issued tenders in the future when spares and parts are required, said people aware of the matter.

The intergovernmental agreement on joint manufacturing of sub systems, spare parts, aggregates and components of Russian origin military arms and equipment is expected to come up for discussion during Singh’s Moscow visit from November 5-7.

The minister will be accompanied by senior bureaucrats and discussions will include all ongoing military programmes between the two nations, including the S-400 air defence system that is presently being manufactured for delivery to India by next year.