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Flying nowhere - the 2g scam, and lack of spectrum policy and regulation have halted the manufacture of drones in india

Details: Created on Sunday, 01 June 2014 09:03; Hits: 7952

Published by India Legal Magazine dated 31st May 2014)

By Naresh Minocha

THEY can be as tiny as a bee or as large as a jumbo jet, but their business potential is nothing but huge. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be used in virtually every sphere, from defense and agriculture to courier services, weather forecasts and natural disaster alerts. However, while these remote-controlled aircraft are the focus of research and development in the West, India’s industrial licensing plans for their manufacture have ground to a halt following the scam involving second- generation (2G) spectrum allocation.

India does not have a spectrum policy or a civil avia- tion regulatory framework for drones, thanks to the government’s policy paralysis. Some officials pin the blame on the two main bodies responsible for drafting policy—the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

While the telecom department has dragged its feet on.. .....continue reading.......

India drags its feet over delinking Agusta-Tata JV from chopper scam

Details: Created on Sunday, 04 May 2014 04:35; Hits: 5962

aw119Kx helicopter: Image courtesy Agusta

The Indian Government has not yet let Agusta Westland-Tata joint venture (JV) off the Defence/VVIP helicopters scam hook. This is in spite of the fact that the JV has categorically written to the Government on 31st January 2014 that it would only sell its choppers in the domestic civilian and overseas markets.

The JV named Indian Rotorcraft Limited (IRL) had first indicated that it would keep itself away from the defence sector in February 2013 when the Government put the chopper scam under the criminal investigation.

Before taking a fresh call on JV’s plea for certain approvals, the Government wants to first decide whether the manufacture of helicopters for civilian market is delicensed. It also wants to decide whether foreign investment in this business should be allowed through the automatic route.

The Government intends to take a policy decision on these two issues after consulting Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

IRL’s stance that it wants to keep away from the defence market is expected to become redundant if MOD decides to blacklist Anglo-Italian Agusta Westland group. MOD can do this to penalize the Group for allegedly paying kickbacks to influential entities to bag the Indian Air Force (IAF) contract for 12 helicopters. Of these choppers, eight were required for flying the so-called very very important persons (VVIPs).

UPA’s policy paralysis impedes certain private sector defence projects

Details: Created on Tuesday, 04 March 2014 19:42; Hits: 7845

mortar simulator Image - courtsey Zen Technologies

Entry of several private sector companies in the defence sector has been delayed due to UPA’s failure to clarify the applicability of the existing ban on foreign institutional investment (FII) in this arena.

The companies whose applications are pending include Tata Advanced Materials Limited (TAPL), Tech Mahindra Limited, Bharat Forge Limited, Punj Lloyd Industries Limited, Reliance Aerospace Technologies Private Limited (RATPL), Rossell India Limited Elcome Marine Services Limited and Zen Technologies Ltd.

The ban has even led to hold-up of the proposals of 100%-owned subsidiaries of Indian blue-chip companies that have small FIIs stake by virtue of their being listed on the stock market.

Even a fourth-tier subsidiary of a company with non-controlling FII investment has to cool its heels for an industrial licence due the Government’s inability to sort out this policy glitch, according to informed sources.

Ponder over Megatrends Unleashed by PPP fad

Details: Created on Saturday, 16 January 2016 09:20; Hits: 4873

(Image courtesy: www.pppinindia.com)

“Some countries have a legal framework for PPPs. The Committee recommends an assessment of whether enactment of PPP law will facilitate expansion of PPP into sectors including health, urban transport and other social sectors,” says the Committee on Revisiting and Revitalizing Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model of Infrastructure headed by Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Chairman, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.

This innocuous observation by the Committee shows that it has failed to capture the big and true picture of the state of PPP in the country. The fact is that PPP has already become the rage in the healthcare sector with its reach extending from multi-specialty surgery camps in the countryside to intensive care unit (ICU) in Government hospitals.

Invitation to private sector entities to set up diagnostic centres, hemodialysis units and cardiac units within Government hospitals has become fashionable. So are efforts to upgrade and operate existing hospitals as PPP multi-specialty centres. The governments and their appendages are also not found wanting in promoting greenfield hospitals under different PPP formats.

Similarly, PPP has made inroads into the education sector with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) being the disgusting example of all that is wrong with PPP.

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