Finmeccanica eyes indian market |
India has not barred Italian defense conglomerate Finmeccanica or any other scam-tainted arms company from participating in the five-day Aero-India, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru on February 18. Participants include 328 foreign and 295 Indian companies. This is another departure from the previous UPA regime`s blacklisting policy, under which then defense minister A K Antony imposed indiscriminate blanket bans on arms companies facing corruption allegations. But bans often proved counter-productive by adversely impacting military modernization projects in terms of new acquisitions and spares. The Modi government, in turn, is working towards easing blacklisting norms as well as liberalizing the hiring of agents or authorized Indian representatives by foreign companies. The MoD is also going to put in place precise and transparent norms for foreign companies to hire agents in India with declared fees. The hiring of agents -- not to be confused with illegal middlemen -- is permitted by the defense procurement procedure since 2001 but just a handful have come forward to get themselves registered till now due to stringent norms and convoluted procedures.
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