THE BEST BET IS TO BET ON YOURSELF

Grow from ‘Make in India’ to ‘Innovate in India’ to boost India’s defence ecosystem and transform Indigenous manufacturing

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RECENTLY, THE GOVERNMENT HAS RELEASED THE FOURTH negative import list that enumerates the defence equipment which cannot be procured from abroad. Ergo, these items and those listed in the preceding such lists have to be ‘Made in India’. The larger goal that has been set by the Defence Minister is for India to be self reliant by the year 2047. To make the environment conducive and to enable wider participation by the Indian industry, the Government of India has rolled out schemes like the ‘Make’ procedure, the Technical Development Fund and the iDEX Scheme. These schemes endeavour to help capable, but smaller players in order that the defence ecosphere gets an overall boost.

Notwithstanding these endeavours, various international studies show that India’s defence imports have not shown a significant reduction in absolute numbers. The factors for this are numerous and include a yet-to-mature Research and Development environment plus the influx of capital that would enable it. This lack of capital inflow has implied a relatively limited defence production by India’s private sector. One study states their contribution as being a mere 25 per cent - by all accounts this is a pittance of what can be.