The Union Home Ministry has liberalised the Arms Rules to encourage investments in the manufacture of arms, ammunition and weapons systems, to give a boost to the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ policy.
The liberalised rules will promote employment generation in this field, according to an official statement released by the MHA. An official said the rules were liberalised with the aim of making India a regional leader in supplying small arms to neighbouring countries as well as help it become an export hub.
Under the new rules, the licence granted for manufacturing will be valid for the life-time of the licensee company. The requirement of renewal every five years has been done away with.
Similarly, the condition that small arms and light weapons produced by a manufacturer should be sold to the Central government or the State governments with the prior approval of the Home Ministry has also been dispensed with.
The liberalised rules will apply to licences granted by the Home Ministry for small arms and ammunition, and those granted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)for other defence equipment.
The new rules, which came into effect on October 27, are expected to encourage manufacturing activity and facilitate availability of world-class weapons to meet the requirements of the armed forces and the police forces.
Under the new rules, enhancement of capacity up to 15 per cent of the quantity approved under the licence will not require any further approval by the government. The manufacturer will be required to give only prior intimation to the authority, the statement said.
Licence fee too has been reduced significantly. Earlier, the licence fee was ₹500 per firearm, which added up to very large sums and was a deterrent to seeking manufacturing licenses. The licence fee will now range from ₹5,000 to a maximum of ₹50,000.
The fee for manufacturing licence will be payable at the time of the grant of license, rather than at the time of application. Single manufacturing licence will be allowed for a multi-unit facility within the same State or in different States within the country, the statement said.
