New Delhi: Former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan (retired) has sharply criticised the growing practice of “white labelling” in India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem, calling it a serious problem that undermines the country’s push for indigenous defence production.
In conversation with ThePrint Founder and Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta and Editor (Defence & Diplomacy) Snehesh Alex Philip, the recently retired CDS did not mince words while responding to a question on white labelling, a term used to describe the practice of foreign-origin systems being supplied as indigenous products with little or no value addition.
At ThePrint’s marquee talk show Off The Cuff (OTC) on Saturday, Gen Chauhan said the responsibility of nationalism cannot rest solely with the armed forces.
In the last few years, India has placed defence orders worth several thousand crore of rupees with Indian companies in the push for indigenisation. However, concerns have surfaced that some vendors, including major players, are importing complete systems from abroad and making only cosmetic changes, such as repackaging, before supplying them to the armed forces.
In other cases, companies were found to be overstating the level of indigenous content despite falling short of the mandated requirements.
