In a major push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign and as a corollary Make in India initiative, the country’s domestic defence manufacturers will soon start production of 108 military equipment, including complex defence systems. According to a statement by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, by procuring more locally-made military equipment, India will be able to fast track the Indo-Russia BrahMos missile development factory unit in Uttar Pradesh.
According to a TOI report, the list of equipment that will be produced indigenously includes sensors, simulators, sonars, radars, assorted weapons, helicopters, next-generation corvettes, Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) systems, tank engines, medium power radars for mountains, medium-range surface-to-air missile systems (MRSAM) and much more.
लखनऊ में होली मिलन समारोह। https://t.co/d2ejgLcX0d
— Rajnath Singh (मोदी का परिवार) (@rajnathsingh) April 3, 2022
It is pertinent to note that in order to push the domestic manufacturers to up their game, the government had imposed a ban on the import of 49 of the 108 items in late 2021. Similarly, the remaining 59 items will be banned by the end of December 2025. These delicate and complex military equipment are best made in the hands of local units as the chances of crucial and top-secret information leaking out is reduced to minimal.
Read More: The growth story of India’s defence manufacturing under PM Modi
Pushing towards a self-reliant industry
The defence sector can become Aatmanirbhar only when it starts to create and simultaneously export defence items. Under the current administration, the sector is doing just the same.
As reported by TFI, in November last year, Union minister Rajnath Singh had reassured the nation that the current administration was successfully striving toward fulfilling PM Modi’s goal of a ‘self-reliant defence industry’.
Informing the nation that currently Indian defence forces use 65 per cent of weapons and products which are made in India, the defence minister promised that soon these 65 per cent will be turned into 90 per cent.
The Modi government has focused on exporting arms and ammunition developed indigenously in the country to other nations. In the last 7 years, the country has exported defence items worth more than ₹38,000 crores.
According to reports, three Indian arms companies have already broken the glass ceiling by entering the top-100 list of arms sales globally. In the report compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which tracks the global arms trade, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Ordnance Factories, and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have found themselves on the list.
Make in India by giving chances to Indian private companies and start-ups
The ministry started iDEX (innovation for defence excellence) has set up incubators (incubators provide basic infrastructure for start-ups to operate) and is allocating crores of rupees to these incubators to fund start-ups. 14 incubators have been established under the iDEX scheme and crores of rupees are flowing to defence start-ups through them.
Moreover, the defence ministry has big plans to purchase equipment from the start-ups. The Finance Minister, in the budget FY 23, announced that 68 % of the capital expenditure for defence start-ups will go to Indian companies.
During his address to the defence ministry’s post-budget webinar on February 25, even PM Narendra Modi said that 70% of the 2022-23 budget has been kept for domestic industry only.
The Indian government in August 2021 granted Indian auto giant Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and it’s subsidiary Mahindra Defence Systems Limited (MDS) a contract worth Rs 1,349.95 crore for the manufacturing of Integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare Defence Suite (IADS) for modern warships of Indian Navy.
Just like Mahindra & Mahindra, another private indigenous firm named Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) reposed the faith shown by the government and delivered the first batch of India-made multi-mode hand grenades (MMHG).
Read More: Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India schemes are all set to make India a global defence powerhouse
Defence Corridors of the country
Moreover, the foundation stone of the defence industrial corridor was also laid in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu last year to become ‘Aatmanirbhar’ in the manufacturing and service of aerospace and defence equipment.
The defence corridor plan in the southern state has been identified in Chennai, Trichy, Salem, Hosur, and Coimbatore as areas of focused development. It is pertinent to note that the defence ministry recently placed an order worth ₹7,523 crores to the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) for the supply of 118 units of the Main Battle Tank Arjun’s Mark-1A variant for the Indian Army.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the top investment destination; companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Germany, and South Korea have shown interest in setting up their manufacturing units/corporate offices in the state. Cumulatively, an investment worth ₹ 45,000 crores have been proposed which will create 1.35 lakh jobs in the state.
The government is moving at a breakneck speed to correct the historical errors made by the previous government regimes that crippled the indigenous industry. It has taken some time but the signs are encouraging and India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem looks all set for an exciting future.