India`s private-sector missile pivot to ensure wartime redundancy, improve price discovery
India expanded missile production beyond state-run firms by bringing private companies into manufacturing, a shift aimed at closing a critical gap between developing sophisticated weapons and producing them at scale, a new report has said.
The report from India Narrative said the move creates wartime redundancy and scale as the ministry plans at least two production partners for each missile system — to avoid single-point failures in wartime.
The competition will improve price discovery, delivery timelines and production efficiency, the report said, adding that public and private companies could develop new forms of partnership to specialise in different parts of increasingly complex weapons systems.
India introduced competition into a sector historically dominated by public-sector production, to deepen the industrial foundations of its military power.
The Defence Ministry in August approved transfer of DRDO technologies for conventional missile systems to qualified Indian defence companies.
Private firms can bid for technology transfer, secure designation as Development-cum-Production Partners (DcPPs), and assume prime systems-integration responsibility.
The policy shift marked a departure from the long-standing model of DRDO-designed missiles largely being transferred to nominated public-sector production agencies, overwhelmingly Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). Hence, a country's wartime effectiveness depends on its ability to replenish these items.
"Strategic deterrence ultimately depends not only on what a country can design but also on what it can manufacture, replenish and sustain during a prolonged conflict," the report said.
"The entry of private companies should not be construed as a retreat by the public sector. BDL remains India’s most experienced missile manufacturer, with established infrastructure, expertise and supplier networks," the report noted.
Public sector companies henceforth cannot feel automatically entitled to produce DRDO-developed missiles, which introduces contestability into a sector where administrative allocation has historically been more important than competition.
