Today, India has the 3rd strongest air force, 4th largest army and 6th largest navy with its defence budget having a 191.65% jump from 2.03 lakh crores 2014 to 5.94 lakh crores in 2023 the new India’s raksha shakti defines its power to safeguard its borders unlike the earlier era. When India marches forward towards its glorious Amrit Kaal, it aims for aatmanirbhar Bharat especially in the defence sector by hitting the target of $5 billion in defence exports by the year 2024-25 making its way forwards to be the largest defence manufacturing hub soon.
Unlike the previous leaderships, PM Modi’s policy and vision for domestic defence manufacturing is aimed at achieving a self-reliant India in the defence sector. This vision involves reducing reliance on foreign imports, boosting domestic production, creating jobs, and promoting innovation. The goal is to make India a global hub for defence manufacturing and contribute to the nation’s economic growth.
The defence procurement from foreign sources has been reduced from 46% to 36% in the last four years i.e. from 2018- 19 to 2021-22 due to new India’s focus on indigenous defence manufacturing. Rs. 1 lakh crore of the defence capital procurement budget has been earmakred for the domestic industry increasing 68% in 2023-24 as compared to 2022-23 matches the intentions and implementations by the government. India records highest ever defence exports of 16000 crores (approx.) in the year 2022-23. It will encourage more investments by the manufacturers and boost the self-reliant India mission in the defence sector at large. A total of 595 Industrial Licenses have been issued to 366 companies operating in the defence Sector till October 2022 proves the policy efforts in the right directions.
New India is witnessing a transitional change in its policy paradigm to boost up investment in the defense manufacturing sector.
The indigenisation policy in DPEPP envisages to thrust the capabilities of India’s defence industries by making 5000 components and sub assemblies used in defence equipment which are currently being imported, to be manufactured in India by 2025.
Under the defence acquisition procedure four ‘Positive Indigenisation Lists’ of total 411 items of Services and three ‘Positive Indigenisation Lists’ of total 3,738 items of Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timelines indicated against them.
The SRIJAN portal intensifies the drive for aatmanirbharta in the field of defence by monitoring the status of progress of the indigenisation process. The industry partners can view the details on the dashboard and avail opportunity as per their capabilities in order to become partners in ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat by listing their products. 19509 defence items have been displayed on the portal for indigenization.
The defence corridors attract investments in the Aerospace & Defence sector and establish a comprehensive defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country. Investments worth Rs 2,242 crore and Rs 3,847 crore have been made in Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC) and Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC) respectively.
The biggest ever DefExpo 2022 witnessed 451 MoUs and participation of 75 countries.
iDEX – Innovations for Defence Excellence aims at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes & academia
From the 155 mm Artillery Gun system ‘Dhanush’ to the Main Battle Tank ‘Arjun’ as well as ‘T-90’ & ‘T-72 Tanks’ on the ground. The Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’ to Su-30 MK1 Cheetah Helicopter, Advanced Light Helicopter, Dornier Do-228 in the air. The striking Surface to Air Missile system ‘Akash’ and the Armoured Personnel Carrier ‘BMP-II/IIK’ as well as the High Mobility Trucks. The INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Chennai, Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette (ASWC), Arjun Armored Repair and Recovery Vehicle, Bridge Laying Tank, Bi-Modular Charge System (BMCS) for 155 mm Ammunition, Medium Bullet Proof Vehicle (MBPV), Weapon Locating Radar (WLR), Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), Software Defined Radios (SDR), Lakshya Parachute for Pilotless Target Aircraft, Opto Electronic Sights for Battle Tanks, Water Jet Fast Attack Craft, Inshore Patrol Vessel, Offshore Patrol Vessel, Fast Interceptor Boat, Landing Craft Utility, 25 T Tugs, etc. produced in the country during the last few years are state of art results of new India’s transformational policy paradigm.
Tata-Air Bus joint venture to manufacture C-295 aircrafts is a major leap in New India’s defence industry which is aimed to further enhance the aerospace ecosystem of the country through generation of 600 highly skilled jobs directly, over 3,000 indirect jobs and an additional 3,000 medium-skill employment opportunities.
India joins a select group of nations, such as the US, UK, Russia, China and France, that can design and build their own aircraft carriers with the commissioning of INS Vikrant. The light combat aircraft Tejas overshadowed the simultaneously launched aircrafts by Russia, China & South Korea. With 16.7x increase in India’s defence exports from 900 crores in 2014 to 15920 crore in 2023, now 75 countries imports defence equipments and systems from India including countries like Italy, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Russia, France, Nepal, Mauritius, Malaysia, Israel, Egypt, UAE, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Poland, Spain and Chile.
New India’s defence manufacturing strengthening raksha shakti, showcasing ‘prachand’ rashtra shakti to the world under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi which affirms his statement, “Na hum aankh jhuka kar baat karenge, na aankh dikhaa kar baat karenge. Hum duniya se aankh mila kar baat karenge”.
Author : Kaveri Madhak
Author Description : Kaveri Madhak is pursuing her master's in mass communication and journalism, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She is currently interning at Gujarat Samachar, Ahmedabad. She is doing research on 'Hindu activism and advocacy through social media: A case study of selected twitter handles'. Her articles have been published on various renowned platforms like Hindu Post, OpIndia and India Fact.
Disclaimer : The views, thoughts, or opinions expressed in this blogs belong solely to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of author’s employer, organisation, committee or any other group or individual.
