On 12th May 2020 honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi had addressed the nation in which he gave a clarion call for a self-reliant nation that is based on five pillars: Economy, infrastructure, system, demography and demand.
Moreover, the policy change came under action in the wake of Chinese infringement and build up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.
“Taking a cue from the evocation”, the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) has prepared a list of items that will be procured from domestic manufacturers.
The manufacturers could be any private sector companies or Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
- Indigenisation of Defence Production:
This will aid in dominating the manufacturing and production of defence equipment having our own design and capabilities of adopting the technology which will be developed and designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with the domestic firms.
Additionally, it will assist the government to reach their aim of a turnover of $25 billion and further, they are expecting to export the products worth $5 billion, as Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh said.
This will also help in reducing the government’s defence import bill.
- Implementation:
In August 2020 the Defence Ministry has issued a list of 101 items that are going to be manufactured domestically in a phased manner between 2020 to 2024.
The estimated contracts worth Rs. 4,00,000 crores will be stacked on the domestic organizations within seven years. Among these, items worth Rs. 1,30,000 crore each is expected for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force while for the Indian Navy items worth Rs. 1,40,000 are predicted.
The MoD has also separated budget provisions for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign procurement routes.
MoD has also adopted many progressive measures to encourage and facilitate “Ease of Doing Business” by the defence production entities which will take necessary steps to ensure the timeline for the production of equipment as per the list are met.
- List of the items:
The first list was published in August 2020 and the 101 military platforms/weapons were listed like artillery guns, sonar systems, transport aircraft, light combat helicopters and many more.
The second list of 108 items lays special focus on the weapons and the systems which are under development and will be ready for the final order in the future. This list consists of weapons and ammunitions like helicopters, next-generation corvettes, Air Borne Early Warning and Control (AEW-C), Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) and many more items.
- Benefits:
It will help industries recognizing their potential and will aid them providing them with a platform to work for Indian defence.
Many micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will be benefited through which the unemployment rate shall be improved.
Economic raise will be seen in future as the import percentage will decrease and manufacturing will take place in the country itself.
A great step in the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
- References:
The Hindu
The Indian Express
Wikipedia
Press Information Bureau
Vision IAS
08 June 2021
Tuesday