BEING SELF-RELIANT IN DEFENCE

The ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign is speeding up the growth of indigenous defence manufacturing capability in India, writes C SANTHOSH

- C SANTHOSH

It was welcome news, early in January when the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi granted its approval for the purchase of 83 Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Procurement approval has been granted for the purchase of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A single-seat fighters and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 twin-seat trainer aircraft at a cost of ₹45,696 crore. The majority of the contract amount will go to Indian firms in the defence and aerospace sector. When viewed along with the success of indigenous defense programmes such as BrahMos, Akash Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system, which have also received large orders, it is clear that the government’s efforts to create a credible defence manufacturing base in India are bearing fruit. Another important order that is expected to fructify soon will be the procurement of 56 C-295 transport aircraft from Airbus, which has partnered with Tata Group as its Indian production agency for the manufacture of 40 aircraft in India. The entire deal will be for 56 aircraft and the first 16 aircraft will arrive as fly-aways. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) recently announced that the deal was at the CFA approval stage and a contract was likely to be signed in the near future. The C-295 deal will provide a massive boost to Indian private sector industry and its progress will be watched closely.