Thursday, March 9 2006 14:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Rejecting suggestions that production of weapons in Indian ordnance factories and defencePSUs did not match international quality, Government today(Mar 9,2006) said snags pointed out by armed forces in Arjun tank and Dhruv Advance Flight helicopters have been removed.

"Our policies are not aimed at capturing arms market in the world. Production from our ordnance factories and defence PSUs are only for our requirement so quality cannot be compromised," Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Lok Sabha.

Asked why Arjun tank was rejected by Army and Dhruv bythe Air Force, Mukherjee said it was incorrect to say that these were rejected.

"As is the case with any new production, some snags were pointed out in Arjun tank. One rotator came out from Dhruv. We have rectified the snags and corrections have been done as pointed out by users," he said.

The Minister, however, conceded that there were some countries which were producing highly sophisticated equipment and efforts were being made to bridge the gap.

Mukherjee said close to Rs 318 crore exports had been made by ordnance factories and defence PSUs during 2004-05.

This figure had touched Rs 252 crore up to February during the current financial year, he said adding the exports were possible only if 'we were competitive' both in terms of price and quality.