By Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI — India's attempt to revive its homemade Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) project, worth more than $10 billion, is unlikely to succeed because the defense industry views the selection criteria as subjective and rules covering intellectual property rights will raise objections from overseas partners, analysts said.
Though the FICV is restricted to domestic companies, analysts said collaboration with overseas companies will be needed in several areas.
The Defence Ministry last month floated fresh expressions of interest for the second time in five years, inviting private and state-owned domestic companies, two of which will be chosen as development agencies (DA) to develop and build the FICV in the "Make in India" category, in which the government funds 80 percent of the cost of the prototype.
After trials of the prototype, one of the DAs would be shortlisted and asked to produce the FICV to replace more than 2,600 Russian-made BMP infantry combat vehicles, for an estimated cost of over $10 billion.
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