INDIGENOUS DEFENCE MANUFACTURING LESSONS AND CHALLENGES

What is the current state of our Defence Manufacturing Industry, and to what degree has the government's objective been accomplished? What insights have been gained over the last ten years, and what obstacles still need to be overcome? R ADM SANJAY MISRA examines the policy and dissects the road ahead

- R ADM SANJAY MISRA

The Ministry of Defence has declared 2025 as the "Year of Reforms" posturing its resolve at restructuring, modernising and revitalising defence production. Ever since our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi started giving coning orders in 2014, the government has made concerted efforts to strengthen the Defence Manufacturing Enterprise, looking to transform Bharat's image from being a compulsive importer to a judicious explorer and onwards to a net arms exporter. The reforms undertaken have covered a wide canvass and addressed aspects ranging from institutional, industrial, and procedural protocols to those about budgetary support under various heads.

These reforms have had a salutary effect. India is now exporting weapon systems, ammunition, and allied products to more than 85 countries growing approx. 14 times over the last decade standing at Rs 21, 083 crores in 2023-24. Yet, the flip side is that we continue to be the largest importer of arms globally, as stated by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). India was the biggest arms importer in the period 2019-23, with a share of 9.8 per cent in global imports, increasing from 9.1 per cent for the period 2014-18, when it stood second. The dichotomy could not be starker, then as evidenced in the recent observations of two service Chiefs.

On 04 Oct 2024, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, Chief of Air Staff flagged the delayed delivery of the Tejas fighters, saying that while our air warriors are better trained than the Chinese, India lags in technology and production capacity. He underlined the need to bring private industry into fighter jet production in addition to the DPSUs. For the Navy and Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, Chief of Naval Staff, however, 15 Jan 2025 was a red-letter day when for the first time, tricommissioning of a destroyer, frigate and submarine was done, all made at a DPSU.