Minister warns that government would take extreme steps if corruption detected in acquisition processes, Times of India reports
NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - India's defence minister has called on companies and officials involved in the acquisition of arms and other supplies to ensure procurement procedures are transparent and graft-free, the Times of India reported on Wednesday.
The call comes at a time when the beleaguered government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been embroiled in series of graft scandals that have hit public confidence. In one such scandal, the former telecoms minister is under arrest over accusations of taking bribes that cost the state $39 billion in lost revenues.
"I do not want to be a party to any corrupt practice and will not allow even a rupee of Indian taxpayer's money to be spent on graft," defence minister A.K. Antony was quoted as saying at a seminar on defence acquisition organised by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.
"...we need to develop the latest strategic and conventional capabilities,” he added. “However, in our enthusiasm to modernize and upgrade our security infrastructure we must not allow our defence acquisition procedures to be manipulated or corrupted."
The minister warned defence firms "not to try to corrupt our people," adding that the government would not hesitate to take extreme steps if it detected corruption in the acquisition process, the newspaper reported.
Accusations of corruption in India's defence sector are not uncommon. In the 1980s, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several other officials were accused of receiving kickbacks from Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for it to win a bid to supply India with 400 howitzers.
The Bofors scandal was one of the highest-profile and longest-running criminal investigations in India and the scale of the corruption was far worse than any the country had seen before. It directly led to the defeat of Gandhi's ruling Indian National Congress party in November 1989 elections.
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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