NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today batted for promotion of defense production, holding its absence under “previous governments” as the reason behind “spike” in corruption in defense deals in the past.
Pitching for incentives in defense manufacturing, Singh said foreign companies are not only interested in investing in India but also ready to transfer technologies.
“Earlier, defense production was not promoted the way it should have been. Although governments may have had the intention to do so but they did not succeed.
“Due to this, instead of competitiveness, corruption spiked in defense orders. You may have come across allegations in the media. This government has taken many steps to increase competitiveness and transparency in this sector,” he said.
Speaking at an ASSOCHAM event here, Singh said “self reliance” was a must towards ensuring “foolproof” internal security of a country while underlining the need to reduce dependency on other countries, especially in the defense sector.–PTI
