It was a moment of pride for Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) when a year back it received the Directorate General Quality Assurance (DGQA)’s Green Channel Status certificate for supply of spares for Flycatcher Radar, manufactured at its Military Radar Strategic Business Unit (SBU) in Bangalore. It was the first time any organisation in India was issued this coveted certificate, ever since the Green Channel Policy was formulated.
Today, the Navratna Defence PSU has received 12 Green Channel Certificates for a total of 41 products manufactured at 10 SBUs/Units: Ghaziabad Unit and Military Radar SBU for Radars, Naval Systems I and Naval Systems II SBUs for Naval products, Military Communications SBU and Panchkula Unit for Communication equipment, Machilipatnam Unit for Opto Electronic products, Navi Mumbai Unit for spares for Mast, Pune Unit for batteries for communication equipment, and Chennai Unit for gun upgrade.
The Ministry of Defence promulgated the Green Channel Policy for promoting ease of doing business as part of its ‘Make in India’ initiatives. A mechanism has been set up to award Green Channel Status to firms with pre-defined financial and quality credentials for broad categories of items having continuous requirement in the Defence Forces. Responsibility of inspection of goods is given to the firms, after their credentials are verified by the Green Channel Committee (GCC), comprising of various stakeholders from DGQA and the procurement ecosystem.
Green Channel Status is the authority given by the Purchaser to the Manufacturer to formally certify its products or stores on behalf of the purchaser or any other authority designated by him, after having verified the Firm’s infrastructure, quality policies and practices to produce and supply goods of specified quality. The Purchaser’s confidence in the Firm’s Quality Assurance is the central tenet in awarding of Green Channel Status.