Defence Innovators & Industry Association has called for increased production of defence equipment within the country for strategic as well as economic reasons.
At a time when India is trying to shake off the label of the world’s biggest arms importer, local manufacture also creates a “strategic depth” in the economy, association officials said alongside a daylong conference organised here on Saturday.
The DIIA was formed in February 2016 to push Indian R&D and manufacture in military hardware, and includes large contractors in private and public sectors.
DIIA chairman Rahul Chaudhry, who is the CEO of Tata Power SED, said in the next two years, the private sector alone was counting on orders worth ₹27,000 crore based on its technical qualification. Citing the successful production strategy of Akash and Pinaka missiles, he said they had a high indigenous content of over 90%. Around 300 industries, led by Bharat Electronics Ltd. and Bharat Dynamics Ltd., are involved in the making of the surface-to-air Akash.
DIIA mentor-director R.K. Tyagi, who is on the Air India board and headed Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. during 2012–15, said domestic should move up from assemblies to systems engineering to retain its the value it creates.
Training centre
State Industry Minister R.V. Deshpande earlier told the conference that the State government planned to provide high-end training in aerospace to 1,600 engineers every year through an aerospace technology centre being set up in Bengaluru jointly with industry.
The government had amended rules in its trendsetting 10-year aerospace policy of 2013. Recently approved projects in this area can potentially create over 10,000 jobs. He said studies show that even a 20% to 25% reduction in defence imports could directly create 1 lakh to 1.2 lakh highly skilled jobs in the country.
“If we could raise the percentage of domestic procurement from 40% to 70% in the next five years, we would double the output in our defence industry. Think of their spin-off benefits in other sectors, in terms of advanced materials and technologies,” the Minister said.
Terming the MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) in defence as a growth pillar, Mr. Deshpande said they employ around two lakh people directly and six lakh people indirectly.
