PM Modi Addresses Defence Industry Outreach Webinar

Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Defence Industry Outreach Webinar’ through video conferencing. During the conference, PM Modi emphasized the need of making India self-reliant in the defence sector. Mr. Tribhuvan Darbari, Managing Director & CEO Texmaco Defence Systems & Chief Executive Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd, participated as a Panel Member, with Hon’ble Prime Minister & Hon’ble Raksha Mantri, India, at the Webinar on Atmanirbhar Bharat: Defence Outreach, on 27 August 2020, at Delhi, India.

Atmanirbhar Bharat Defence Industry Outreach Webinar was jointly organized by the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence (MoD). Mr. Tribhuvan Darbari, Managing Director & CEO Texmaco Defence Systems & Chief Executive Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd was invited as a panel member to participate in the webinar.

During the webinar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a decision has been taken to permit up to 74% FDI in the defence manufacturing through an automatic route. Highlighting the importance and benefits of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said, “Our work for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ will also boost India’s ability to be net security provider in the Indian Ocean.”

Talking about the role of private players in the defence sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Efforts are being made to boost defence production, develop new technology and give a big role to private players in the defence sector.”

Further PM Modi also pointed out “For many years, India has been one of the biggest defence importers. When India got its independence, it had the great capability in defence manufacturing and an ecosystem of defence manufacturing established over 100 yrs. Unfortunately, this subject couldn’t get requisite attention.”

PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh highlighted the government’s aim to increase defence manufacturing in India.

Speaking on MoD recently issuing a negative list of 101 defence items on the valuable suggestion of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Rajnath Singh said, “After a certain period of time these items will not be procured from outside. This list is the beginning of a process that has the potential to transform the defence industry. This list of 101 items includes not only minor parts but also warfare systems, integrated platforms, combat vehicles. This list is just a beginning so that in the coming time, defence equipment worth Rs 1.40 lakh crore will be purchased domestically.”

Hon’ble Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the government has made several bold policy reforms to promote self-reliance in the defence sector. These include increasing the limit to 74 percent for Foreign Direct Investment through automatic route in the Defence sector and setting up of Defence corridors in UP and Tamil Nadu in addition to Strategic Partnership (SP) Model to promote investments, liberalisation of Industrial License regime, and ‘Defence Investor Cell’ to address the problems of investors.

While answering questions from the participants, Raksha Mantri said that corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) would be completed within a year. In response to another question, Shri Rajnath Singh replied that the two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were targeted to attract thousands of crores of investments in the next five years.

Mr. Tribhuvan Darbari congratulated the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the success of the webinar. Mr. Tribhuvan Darbari tweeted –

Heartiest #congratulations on the unprecedented #success of #webinar on '#AtmaNirbharBharat: #Defence_Outreach.
–#TribhuvanDarbari, MD & CEO-#Texmaco (Adventz Group)@ficci_india @SIDMIndia @narendramodi @rajnathsingh @indiannavy @CIIEvents
#TexmacoRailandEngineering pic.twitter.com/SlhgG3I2zZ

— Tribhuvan Darbari (@darbari_s) August 29, 2020

Sources-

Hindustan Times, india.com