In this context, doubts have been raised about the capability of indigenous manufacturers, principally HE(I)L and BHEL, to supply the required plant and equipment. Taking their cue from this, State Electricity Boards and other interested parties have begun to argue that quite apart from the inability of the indigenous manufacturers to provide the generators within the stipulated time, their costs were also higher compared to those of imported sets. In any case, it is argued, the foreign exchange outgo will not be very large since the import content of the indigenous sets is insignificant. Further, since there is a buyers' market in plant and equipment for electricity generation, they can be imported on very advantageous price and credit terms. The managements of MINERALS LARGE parts of the text of the latest annual report of the Department of Mines are lifted bodily from last year's report, with only the figures changed as required. Nonetheless, the report is not as drearily pedestrian as might be feared. There are flashes of enthusiasm, an awareness (in words, if not in action) of the importance of minerals and metals to the national economy, and even some pieces of good news. The introduction discloses that the contribution of the mineral sector to national income increased from Rs 470 crores in the first Plan to Rs 969 crores in the Third. This is probably an underestimate.
