As India prepares to clinch several big-ticket arms deals, the Comptroller and Auditor General on Wednesday said the defence ministry lacked the expertise for acquisitions.
He also said the ministry's new procurement policy is causing delays.
"The new policy has also not addressed quality assurance," CAG V N Kaul said in his address at an international seminar on defence finance and economics.
"Several instances of quality deficiencies in purchase of sophisticated armament systems have been noticed in audit," he said.
Kaul was also unsparing in his criticism of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, saying the body with an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore lacked accountability and that it often takes shelter under the policy of self-reliance and indigenisation.
Pointing to the need to make DRDO more accountable, Kaul said the organisation was made to ensure there were returns from investment.
Elaborating on delays in the procurement of arms, Kaul said besides instances of cost increases and performance shortfalls, the time gap between assessment and initiation of the process for strategic procurements by the armed forces and actual induction of systems was alarmingly long.
"Even in many cases, it is decades," he said, pointing out that these long acquisition cycles had serious repercussions for defence preparedness.
Another area that came in for criticism by Kaul was the non-utilisation of funds meant for capital acquisitions or purchase of new hardware.
Kaul said another major problem in defence procurements was poor project and contract management. "There are recurring instances of poor contract and vendor management and weak vendor development, all recorded in audits," he said.
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