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NEW DELHI: Government has taken into consideration the “deficiencies” in some of the critical ammunitions on a priority basis and taken steps to address them, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, the Minister said that government has also taken effective steps to mitigate the deficiencies to ensure the desired level of operational-preparedness commensurate with threat perception in a dynamic strategic scenario.
He was replying to a question on a recent report by CAG which pointed out that the army is facing severe ammunition shortage and cannot fight a war beyond 15 to 20 days.
“The CAG report covers the status as existed in March, 2013,” Mr Parrikar said.
He said the steps taken further to mitigate deficiencies include placing of Second Five Year Ammunition Roll on indent for the period 2014-19 on Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
A roadmap on ammunition has been approved which envisages procurement ex-import and ex-trade to build up adequate targeted stocks in addition to training requirement, he said.
Besides, an institutionalized mechanism in the form of Working Group to review critical items has been set up.
“Ammunition with recurring large annual training requirement with high cost has been intimated to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and OFB for indigenous development,” Mr Parrikar said.
