Audit Reports
Defence
Report No. 20 of 2011 - Compliance Audit on Air Force and Navy, Union Government, Defence Services
Overview
The total expenditure of the Defence Services during 2009-10 was Rs.1,45,781 crore. Of this,the Air Force and Navy spent Rs.33,259 crore and Rs.22,935 crore respectively. The combined expenditure of the two services accounts for 38.54 per cent of the total expenditure on the Defence Services. The major portion of the expenditure of the Air Force and Navy is capital in nature, constituting almost 56.77 per cent of their total expenditure.Flawed approach in acquiring 16 MiG-29K aircraft, at a cost of Rs.3,405.61 crore without finalising the associated package with the procurement of the aircraft, in January 2004, led to delivery of six aircraft in December 2009 without weapons. Subsequently, five more aircrafts were delivered in May 2011.
The armament for the aircraft were contracted for only in March 2006 which led to non delivery of weapons till October 2010, adversely affecting the operational capabilities of the aircraft. Besides, the Beyond Visual Range missiles contracted for the aircraft, at a cost of Rs.93.68 crore, has had an unsatisfactory track record with Indian Air Force.Acquisition of critical requirement of air defence surveillance system was beset with delays at each stage in the pre-contract finalisation process. Further, avoidable additional payment of Rs.57.46 crore was made by the Ministry to M/s Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) without justification due to inadequate negotiations during procurement.
Indian Air Force procured two vital surveillance systems at the cost of Rs.676 crore. One of the system met with an accident and has become non operational since May 2009. It is not likely to be available to IAF for another two years. The accident was attributable to failure in keeping track of weather changes, inadequate supervision of the ongoing snubbing activities and follow up on maintenance activities. Besides, the fabric used in both the systems have also started decaying prematurely causing excessive leakage of helium resulting in extra expenditure on operation cost.