Our defence supply chain will thrive only with homegrown, advanced materials

India's defence sector can change its face by focusing on domestic production of advanced materials and building a selfreliant supply chain that ensures consistent, costeffective access to critical components essential for national security.

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Over the last decade, there has been a greater thrust on indigenous manufacturing, including hi-tech futuristic defence systems. Several policy initiatives have encouraged active participation from domestic private players. There has been a buzz around R&D and innovation in solutions that employ high-performance engineered ceramics, composites, and new-age materials such as graphene. This has facilitated a renewed approach towards realising the core objective of defence, saving lives by enabling the most advanced protection for man and machine across terrain.

Despite these measures, India reportedly spends approximately Rs. 14,000 crores each year to import critical ‘military’ materials, as per KPMG's report on ‘Military Materials - Challenges & Opportunities’. We are also completely import-dependent for certain defence-strategic materials that are unavailable. This assumption takes on greater importance in an era of intense geopolitical uncertainties and tightening protectionist tactics, such as higher import tariffs. It could have a detrimental impact on supply chains, resulting in prolonged disruptions. Ensuring self-sufficiency in material procurement is crucial to bolstering the domestic ecosystem.

The first step is to secure strategic domestic supply sources which are globally benchmarked and certified, independent of global marketplace challenges, at the most advantageous prices. Reducing dependence on imports of strategic defence materials can help bypass high raw material import costs and mitigate international supply chain disruptions.

This presents a good opportunity for Indian domestic players to enhance their supply chain and production capabilities to meet the growing demand. With the use of indigenous materials, high-quality defence requirements such as body armour and vehicle armour can be made widely accessible through reduced costs while maintaining world-class quality.