BY :PTI

Apparently peeved at the practice of blacklisting of companies after allegations of kick-backs, Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Saturday said the procedures involved needed to be amended as it leads to delays in acquisition of urgently-required weapon systems.

Speaking to reporters, he hoped for early nod from the government for procurement of additional Barak missiles from Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd, an Israeli company which is under a cloud of suspicion following allegations of kick-backs.

"India has been blacklisting major companies such as HDW and Bofors after controversy hit defence deals. It has often caused difficulties for us to buy weapons systems. India's immediate requirements need to be met," Mehta said after flagging in an NDA expedition team that successfully scaled Mount Deo Tibba in Himachal Pradesh recently.

"There is something wrong in the procedures for blacklisting, and this has to be sorted out soon," he added.

Contending that in "every big ticket deal, there will be somebody opposing it all the time," he said "we had this controversy over HDW, but even after 12 years nothing came out of it. Then we had Bofors."

He was talking in the context of controversy over the Barak missile acquisitions for the Navy, which is being probed by the CBI.

Notwithstanding the CBI probe, the Defence Ministry's Acquisition Council recently gave its go-ahead for purchase of additional missiles to augment the Barak missile system on board 10 Indian warships.

However, a political nod in the form of clearance from Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is still awaited.