BANGALORE: India’s flagship defence export Dhruv, an Advanced Light Helicopter which the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) claims as indigenous, is 90 per cent imported, states a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
The report says 90 per cent of the material used to build the 5.5-tonne chopper is imported. It adds that HAL should make concerted efforts to achieve the desired 50 per cent level of indigenisation.
“As against the envisaged indigenisation level of 50 per cent, about 90 per cent of the value of material used in each helicopter is procured from foreign suppliers,” says the report.
Rapping the Bangalore-based defence PSU, the CAG report adds that the non-freezing of design of the chopper has kept the development stage open.
“Despite getting the first prototype of ALH utility version in 1992, till date the company has not met the technical requirements of defence services, which changed too often impacting the development process necessitating large number of modifications.”
It points out that 74 helicopters supplied to defence customers “are flying with concessions” and adds that the company failed to consider infrastructural imbalances.
The report also pulls up HAL for the delay in development of the powerful Shakti engine and recommends that series production should be taken up only after prototypes are approved by the customer and the Ministry of Defence.