After Centre announced a list of defence items banned from being imported, Army Vice Chief Lt Gen SK Saini on Friday stated this decision would not restrict forces from procuring niche technologies from abroad. While announcing the fourth tranche of economic measures last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that measures would be taken to give a push to ‘Make in India’ in the Defence sector revealing that there will be a list of notified weaponry/platforms which will be banned from import enhancing Indian platforms for production and manufacture.
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“The Army Vice Chief, however, assured that the import ban list will not restrict the forces to procure niche technologies from abroad,” said an Army release.
While addressing a webinar the Army Vice Chief urged the startups and MSMEs to come up with “sophisticated technological solutions to military challenges” advising them to use these technologies in the civil domain. Backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ he added that such technological solutions will help bring down the costs of production, making them financially viable in the medium and long term.
“The Vice Chief explained to the audience that 80 per cent of the Army’s capability development and more than 92 per cent of its sustenance budget was based on indigenous products and services,” said the release.
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The Army Vice Chief also expressed hope that other ammunition varieties including those that were being imported currently, will also be added in the list of items to be manufactured indigenously. Lt Gen Saini said that the larger enterprises will have to act as major hubs of research and development, manufacturing and integration which in turn will provide impetus to the smaller MSMEs to provide them with ancillary support, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem in the long run.
Among other reforms in the defence sector, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in Defence manufacture will be increased from the present 49% to 74%. Sitharaman also announced a separate budget for domestic capital procurement which will, in turn, reduce the bill of Defence import.
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