MoD Plans to Nominate BEL for TCS Project

The Indian Ministry of Defence is scheduled to give yet another discouraging sign to the private firms trying to enter the defence sector, by scrapping competitive bidding for the $2 billion project for developing the Indian Army’s futuristic Tactical Communications System (TCS).The Indian Ministry of Defence has decided to hand over the crucial project to the state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) due to the crucial nature of the project and the secrecy needed. Sadly, it was the Ministry of Defence who had invited bids from the private sector in the first place. The India Defence Ministry has declared that the turnaround was caused after reviewing the new cyber policy formulated by the apex National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) – a secretive body that functions under the Cabinet Secretariat, which oversees electronic intelligence.The TCS project also falls under the purview of this body. The TCS project involves the Indian government funding 80 per cent of the research and development cost, with the remaining 20 per cent to be funded by the chosen vendor for the project.......................................Read More

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