(This story originally appeared in on Jun 08, 2016)

AGRA: After 13 years of research and crores of rupees spent, parachutes meant for special forces designed by a Defence Research and Development Organization ( DRDO ) lab here have not only failed field trials but have also been classed as “seriously life threatening”, according to an audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG ), that slammed the functioning of the lab and the indigenous manufacturer.The report (no. 44 of 2015) released on Wednesday is part of an audit of Army ordnance factories and defence PSUs by CAG, which has pointed out serious lapses on the part of the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) in Agra and the Ordnance Parachutes Factory (OPF) in Kanpur for allegedly failing to produce combat free fall (CFF) parachutes, despite Rs 10.75 crore in expenses and years of trials.CAG has raised questions about ADRDE, the sole institution in India for development of military-grade parachutes, on its claim of successful trials of CFF chutes, pointing out that an overwhelming 75 per cent of the chutes had failed field trials.CFF parachutes are used by elite paratroopers for highly specialised operations. In 1986, a batch of them had been imported and, with a shelf life of 10 years, had been finally de-commissioned in 2002, being no longer operationally worthy.In 2001, the Army placed an order for 1,031 CFF parachutes, of which 410 were to be procured from abroad on a fast track basis for urgent needs. The remaining 621 were to be produced under a project by ADRDE which started in March 2003. However, in 2006, the ministry of defence ended the import idea, suggesting these chutes also be procured internally.Between March and November 2006, ADRDE conducted trials for the CFFs it had developed and claimed these had been successful. The defence ministry then placed an order with OPF Kanpur to make 700 of the parachutes in October 2008, at a total cost of Rs 55.35 crore. OPF was to deliver a sample of 40 for further trials.However, according to the CAG report, in 2010, trials of the parachutes found them deficient in quality, with the expert team saying the implications of the flaws were “seriously life threatening”. Despite this, the ministry went ahead and in July 2011 ordered two consignments of 25 parachutes each.In October 2014, of the first 25 chutes, only seven passed trials. The failure rate of 75 per cent, said the CAG report, raised serious questions about the claims by ADRDE as well as the manufacturer, OPF.Meanwhile, in January 2008, Indian Air Force signed a deal with the US government to buy C130 Hercules aircraft, and with them 600 CFF chutes. Of these, 400 were given to the Army in January 2013.“Despite urgent requirement for CFF parachutes since 2001, the ministry neither bought them from abroad nor through indigenous sources till December 2012. This resulted in non-availability of parachutes for the Army’s immediate operational needs for over a decade,” the CAG report remarks, while also questioning the functioning of both ADRDE and OPF.ADRDE director Debasish Chakraborti was not available for comment following the release of the CAG report. A senior IAF officer at Kheria air base here, where paratroopers are trained, said, “The quality of imported CFF parachutes is better than indigenously made ones. At present we are using ADRDE parachutes and they have done a decent job so far.”