Foreign OEMs are agonising over India’s changing offsets policy over the past 15 years. Convoluted regulations have entangled them in a $100 million quagmire of penalties, lack of options when tapping local products, financial books blemished by years of pending dues, and regular threats of being blacklisted by the MoD.
It is expected that half of all contracts will be charged penalties within the next two years. OEMs have called for an end to the stalemate, suggesting an empowered dispute resolution body for legacy contracts.
They could then start on a clean page, as Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 can