Encouraging industry leaders to boost defence manufacturing within the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, on 25 Feb 2022, that only if the country develops its own weapons, it can maintain uniqueness which is important for the nation’s security. He urged them to view it as an “act of patriotism” and “service to the nation” and think about making the country stronger, and then about profits. He was addressing a webinar on self-reliance in defence about the budgetary provisions for the defence sector.
“The basic principle of security is that you should have your own customised and unique system, only then it will help you. If ten countries have the same type of defence equipment, then your armies will have no uniqueness. Uniqueness and surprise element can be brought only if the equipment is developed in your own country.”
“When we bring weapons from outside, it’s process is so long that by the time they reach our security forces, many of them have become outdated,” Modi stated.
He encouraged the industry to leverage India’s information technology prowess, calling it country’s “great strength”. “The more we use this power in our defence, the more confident we will be in our security.” Citing the example of cyber security, he said, even it has become a “weapon of war” and “a matter of national security”.
He said that this year’s budget “has a blueprint for developing a vibrant ecosystem from research, design and development to manufacturing within the country” and has set aside nearly 70 per cent of the capital allocation for the domestic industry. He mentioned that since nearly 200 items were put under negative imports list in the last two years contracts worth Rs 54 thousand crore have been signed for domestic procurement, and apart from that the “the procurement process related to equipment worth more than Rs 4.5 lakh crore is also in different stages.” He said a third positive indigenisation list will be announced soon.
The government, he said, has issued 350 new industrial licences for defence manufacturing in the last seven years, compared to 200 such licences that were issued between 2001 and 2014.
