Union Defence Minister George Fernandes has called for greater participation of private sector in defence sector.

Speaking at the 102th annual general meeting of Merchants' Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, the minister said defence procurement from the private sector should be increased.

"I agree that private companies should be allowed to participate to a greater degree. In fact, we had met business bodies like Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and told them that we want private participation." Fernandes said.

He said if purchases made from foreign private companies were not considered sensitive, buying from the private sector at home should not be held up on issue of confidentiality.

Quality standards would have to be very high and there could not be any compromise as it was a question of life and death. "We have to import for competitiveness and quality," he added.

The minister lauded the domestic small-scale sector for their role in the defence sector. "Domestic small-scale sector was allowed to supply products for the advanced light combat aircraft," he said.

 "More than 100 SSI companies are supplying products for LCA and this is the same for the advance light helicopters and a host of other development projects, including missiles," he pointed out.

Though the rules and regulations for supply were yet to be decided, all SSI units could register themselves for supply to defense sector. Over and above the 39 existing ordnance factories, one more factory was under construction.

The 102th meeting of MCC was attended by Tapan Sikdar, minister for small scale sector and north east region, and S B Mathur, chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India.