Make in India
Private sector struggles for defence orders
The Ministry of Defence has budgeted Rs 75,000 crore for Make in India for the financial year 2022-23. Out of this, Rs 22,000 crore has been earmarked for production by the Indian private sector. This is an ambitious target as orders issued by the government last year were nowhere near this figure. In the previous year, the MoD had awarded contracts worth Rs 6,000 crore to the private sector. Sources in MoD said no big-ticket programmes are in the offing in the current financial year and hence, contracts to the private sector may not even cross the last year’s figures. The unspent budget of the private sector may be given to DPSUs. The private players in the defence sector are understandably miffed with the slow movement on the much-hyped indigenisation plan. There appears to be a lack of clarity on what items should be given to private players and which ones should be produced exclusively by the public sector defence companies. Sources said that private defence companies of India have given a wish list of items that it would like to produce. The ministry has yet to take a decision on this request. According to private players, the indigenisation process would not gather momentum unless the MoD makes two clear categories of items to be produced in public and private sectors. They say the lack of clarity on this ends up in endless discussions over awarding production contracts to private sector. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in the Budget 2022 that 68% of capital expenditure in defence would be reserved for domestic procurement. This has given a big boost to the public sector companies, but the private sector is still struggling to get orders.
Social Justice
Congress may not get caste math right in RS
The term of 57 members of the Rajya Sabha is coming to an end between June and August this year. The Election Commission would start the process to fill these vacancies on May 24 by issuing the notification for election. Votes will be cast on June 10. Prominent Congress leaders who are retiring during this period are A K Antony, Kapil Sibal, Ambika Soni, P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and Vivek Tankha. Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma have already retired. Some prominent young leaders are also aspiring to enter the house of elders. The party leadership has just returned from Udaipur pledging to set its house in order by ensuring social justice in all appointments. The ensuing Rajya Sabha elections are being seen as the party’s first test on this count. But the pressure to accommodate senior leaders may prevent the party from sending out a clear message on social justice. Congress leaders are hoping to get 10 seats in this round – two each from Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and one each from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Among the seniors, A K Antony has announced his retirement and has requested the party leadership not to give him another term. But the party has to return all senior leaders to the House. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has reportedly promised to give Ghulam Nabi a seat. Chidambaram, Ambika and Jairam are sure to be renominated. Mukul Wasnik is also a strong contender, and Vivek Tankha is everybody’s favourite. Sources said Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan chief ministers have asked the leadership to leave one seat each for local candidates. This leaves little room for sending a big caste message.
Foreign Affairs
India refuses Russian request to use Chinese pay
The delay in finalising the rupee-rouble payment mechanism is affecting trade between India and Russia. The sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and European Union included putting Russia out of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), which allows movement of funds globally. With Russia out of SWIFT, its payments are stuck worldwide. India, too, has been trying to find ways to make payments for the defence, fertiliser and oil imports from Russia. The ministry of finance is working on setting up a rupee-rouble exchange mechanism to settle dues. The last payment made by India was at end of March. Russia has been pressing India to clear its dues as it is hard pressed for funds. The country has reportedly offered to send its finance minister to sit with the officials of the Indian ministry of finance to work out a way to settle the payments. India has rejected the Russian request to use the Chinese substitute to SWIFT. China and Russia are using this mechanism for their bilateral trade. Many other countries are also using this Chinese platform. As payments pile up, India is under pressure to expedite the rupee-rouble trade mechanism.