Observing that high-level promotions in the armed forces have been "unduly delayed", Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday said the government proposes to implement at the earliest the second part of the A V Singh committee report on the issue.
Seeking to downplay a rift between the army on the one side and navy and Indian Air Force on the other over share in new posts as per the Singh report, Antony said an amicable solution would be arrived at soon.
The minister's comment assumed significance in the wake of report of a spat between Army Chief General J J Singh and Naval and IAF chiefs Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major over the share of 156 new posts of Major General and above being created under the new policy.
"You should not read any tussle (among the forces). There is no rivalry if each service puts up its own case," on the Singh committee recommendations, Antony told reporters on the sidelines of Coast Guard Commanders Conference.
"We are taking steps to implement the recommendations, which have been unduly delayed," the minister said.
The minister has already had one round of meeting with three service chiefs and top brass of the navy, IAF and the army to consider the A V Singh Committee report.
According to the report, the army will get 95 more posts of major general and above while the IAF will have 38 vacancies of air vice marshal and above with navy having a share of only 23 more posts of rear admirals and vice admirals.
Asked about the delay in making public the first list of Raksha Udyog Ratnas, the defence minister admitted that this had been delayed following concerns raised by trade unions.
Allaying fears of trade unions, Antony said there was no move to do away with defence public sector undertakings and that the entry of the private sector in the armament field was meant to strengthen the sector.
He said at his meetings with country's leading trade unions, "some concerns" had been expressed and "we are trying to address these."
The minister said since the country was entering into a competitive era, a major thrust was required towards indigenisation in the vital defence sector.
"We cannot continue to depend on arms imports. It is costly and we need to expand the technological base of armament production," he said.
In the past, the field was only open to the public sector, but demands were growing, he said, adding, "For this, we have to encourage the entry of private sector."
On his forthcoming visit to Russia, Antony said a number of outstanding issues were expected to be discussed with Moscow.
To a question on the capacity of Indian shipyards, the defence minister said a plan had been finalised to expand capacities of all public sector shipyards and also to set up an institute for warship designing.
He said as part of the expansion, the shipyards have been told to improve production techniques, which would enable them to shorten production time of warships.
Antony, however, sidestepped a question whether production of ships for the coast guard could be given to the private sector in view of defence shipyards being fully booked with naval requirements.
