CAG slams navy, DRDO laboratory

Slamming the Navy for finalising a deal for MiG 29K naval fighter aircraft without their weapons package, a Comptroller and Auditor General report Thursday said the maritime force has now chosen a missile with an "unsatisfactory track record" in the Indian Air Force.

In its report tabled in Parliament, the government auditor said, "Indian Navy followed a flawed approach in acquiring new fighter aircraft by not finalising the associated weapon package with the contract for the aircraft."

"11 out of the 16 MiG 29K aircraft worth Rs 3,405 crore have been delivered in 2009 and May 2011. No armament contracted for was delivered till October 2010 adversely affecting the operational capabilities of the aircraft," the report said.

India has finalised a deal in 2004 with Russia to procure 16 MiG 29Ks as part of the contract for the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier.

The maritime fighters are deployed in Goa at Navy's INS Hansa base. On the issue of the beyond visual range missile acquired by the Navy, the auditor said, "One such missile was acquired by the IAF between 1999 and 2002. However, the serviceability status of the missile in evidence prior to the Navy contract of 2006, has been poor."

The CAG said even after a 51 months delay in finalising the weapon package of the aircraft, the Navy "failed to adopt an integrated approach to utilise the database of IAF and ended up procuring 40 such missiles worth USD 21.88 million whose service was found unreliable by the IAF."

Meanwhile, the CAG rapped Aeronautical Development Establishment, a Defence Research and Development Organisation laboratory, for not providing insurance cover while signing a contract to purchase components for Light Combat Aircraft and causing a loss of $2.13 million (Rs 10.63 crore) to the government.

Tabling its report on Defence Services in Parliament, CAG noted the "failure of ADE to comply with the extant order for getting insurance cover resulted in a transit loss of stores worth Rs 10.63 crore, for which no insurance claim could be raised."

The report recommended "the matters needs to be investigated by the Ministry to fix the responsibility for not insuring the stores and thus causing a loss to the government due to negligence on the part of the officials."

CAG had audited a contract signed by ADE to purchase Integrated Flight Control Systems for Light Combat Aircraft from BAE System Overseas in September 2004 at a cost of $30.60 million or Rs 140.70 crore.

BAE System was required to deliver the orders by December 2008. The report said "the consignment containing 15 ship sets, costing $2.13 million or Rs 10.63 crore has not been received by them (ADE) till October 2010 even though the firm has dispatched them through British Airways in December 2008."

The efforts to locate the missing consignment by ADE remained unfruitful and meanwhile complete payment was released to the firm by December 2009, the report said.

CAG has said that as per the extant orders, stores costing Rs 2.50 crore or more are required to be insured against loss or damage in transit and the insurance cover is invariably required to be obtained before dispatch of the consignment by the firm or the supplier.