HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR HON’BLE DEFENCE MINISTER MR. RAJNATH SINGH & THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE TEAM FOR OPERATIONALIZING THE THIRD POSITIVE INDIGENISATION LIST: ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT

Landmark policy decision to indigenise 101 more weapons and platforms to speed up ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in Defence, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh released the third positive indigenisation list of 101 items, comprising major equipment/platforms, in New Delhi on April 07, 2022. These weapons and platforms are planned to be indigenised progressively with effect from December 2022 to December 2027.

The spirit behind issuing these three lists comprising 310 defence equipments, and handing over of 30 ToT agreements to the Industry reflects the growing confidence of the Government in the capabilities of domestic industry that they can supply equipment of international standards to meet the demand of the Armed Forces. These lists are a step towards the efforts being made by the Government to achieve Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and create an environment where public, private sector and foreign entities can work together and help India become one of the leading countries in defence manufacturing.

Earmarking 68 per cent of capital procurement budget for domestic procurement and 25 per cent of defence R&D budget for start-ups and academia and corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board are another step towards promoting self-reliance & reduce import dependency.

The import of systems, with foreign software codes, can prove to be dangerous for the security apparatus as it opens the window of vulnerability. However, self-reliance in defence production and promotion in exports not only strengthens the economy as well as national security but also improves the socio-economic condition of our country as it provides employment to lakhs of people working in MSMEs connected to the sector, spread across the country.