Singh said, “I cannot rule out the possibility of a new positive indigenisation list (coming out soon), given India’s focus on self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector.”

The upcoming fifth ‘positive indigenisation list’ will be a pivotal development in India’s quest for self-reliance in defence and will also boost the country’s status as an exporter of military hardware. The first four lists, announced in August 2020, May 2021, April 2022 and October 2022, impose a phased import ban on weapons that are planned to be indigenised over the next five to six years. The fourth list was announced by Modi during the opening ceremony of DefExpo-2022 at Gandhinagar in Gujarat last October.

The lists cover a raft of weapons and systems, including artillery guns, missile destroyers, ship-borne cruise missiles, light combat aircraft, light transport aircraft, long-range land-attack cruise missiles, basic trainer aircraft, multi-barrel rocket launchers, a variety of helicopters, assault rifles, sniper rifles, mini-unmanned aerial vehicles, next-generation corvettes, and airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems.

Military hardware sought to be developed locally also ranges from light tanks, naval utility helicopters and mounted artillery gun systems to medium altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, missiles and loitering munitions. Import substitution of ammunition, which is a recurring requirement, has been given special emphasis in the previous lists.

The possibility of the new list comes at a time when India has sharpened its focus on getting a toehold in foreign markets, set a target of achieving defence exports worth $5 billion by 2025, and taken a raft of policy measures to boost the indigenous defence manufacturing sector.

Military hardware being exported by India includes missiles, the advanced light helicopter, offshore patrol vessels, personal protective gear, surveillance systems and a variety of radars. The hardware that holds export potential includes the light combat aircraft, Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, Akash surface-to-air missile system, tanks, sonars and radars. India currently exports military hardware to 84 countries, with the number likely to increase in the coming years, the officials said.

“A strong and self-reliant defence sector will play a pivotal role in helping India emerge as one of the top three world economies in the times to come. Achievements in the defence sector provide spin-off benefits to the Indian economy. The technologies developed in the field are equally useful for civilian purposes,” Singh said.

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Defence minister Rajnath Singh approved the latest list to cut down imports by defence public sector undertakings and achieve Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in the defence manufacturing sector, the ministry said in a statement.

This is the third list of “important line replacement units (LRUs)/sub-systems/ components” placed under an import ban. It comes on the back of two similar lists published by the government in December 2021 and March 2022.

“These lists contain 2,500 items which are already indigenised and 458 items which will be indigenised within the given timelines. Out of 458, 167 items have been indigenised so far,” the defence ministry said.

The indigenous development of these sub-systems and components will bolster the economy, reduce the import dependence of DPSUs, help harness design capabilities of the domestic defence industry and position India as a leader in these technologies, it added.

The components and sub-systems sought to be produced locally include several items for Sukhoi-30 and Jaguar fighters, light combat aircraft and Dornier-228 planes; multiple systems for submarines, and equipment for T-90 and Arjun tanks.

To be sure, India has published three other lists imposing a phased import ban on 310 different types of weapons and platforms, including lightweight tanks, naval utility helicopters, artillery guns, missiles, destroyers, ship-borne cruise missiles, light combat aircraft, light transport aircraft, long-range land-attack cruise missiles, basic trainer aircraft and multi-barrel rocket launchers.

The latest list has been put out by the defence ministry at a time when the global backlash against Russia over its Ukraine invasion has raised questions about the fate of new projects with that country, procurement of spares for existing Russian-origin weapons, and maintenance and servicing of legacy equipment operated by the three services.

The earlier list, published in March, included sub-systems that India imports from Russia for weapons and platforms, including T-90 and T-72 tanks, BMP-II infantry combat vehicles, warships and submarines, and anti-tank missiles.

The government has taken several steps in recent years to boost self-reliance, including raising foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence manufacturing, creating a separate budget for buying locally made military hardware and notifying lists of weapons, equipment and sub-systems that cannot be imported.

India is making planned, steady and focused progress to achieve Aatmanirbharta in the defence sector and several projects have been sanctioned for the local industry, former director general of military operations Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd) earlier said.

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Thanks to a number of measures and incentives, import ban, the iDEX programme, as well as Make-2 and DRDO programmes included, India is developing defence technologies that are on the cutting edge for the first time, sometimes exceeding the best the world has seen so far.

For the first time, the Indian defence industry is participating in the global supply chain in a significant way. It is supplying to leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide, which is a testament to Indian products’ quality and workmanship. This is evident from the fact that nearly 50 percent of the Indian defence exports from the Indian defence industry are going to leading OEMs in the USA. The US Sealift Command, which has started sending naval ships to Indian shipyards, has found the capability of Indian shipyards to meet the highest standards in the world.

India is also working towards greater innovation and manufacturing prowess when it comes to drones. The focus is on creating some global firsts in this field as well.

With indigenous weapons and platforms, a new dimension is added to their capabilities. They have an advantage over the adversary since indigenously developed niche capabilities can remain unknown to the enemy- something that is not possible with imported off-the-shelf equipment.

The rapid success achieved in development of military equipment is also in part to the credit of public-private partnership (PPP).

The three positive indigenisation lists issued by the Department of Military Affairs during the last two years are examples of the Armed Forces’ conviction in the capability of the domestic industrial ecosystem. These lists prescribe the 310 platforms and equipment services they have chosen to procure from the Indian industry as part of a roadmap that meets their requirements. Moreover, contracts worth Rs 2.2 lakh crores and projects worth Rs 5.07 lakh crores are in different stages of procurement by the three Services.

There are several instances where the equipment manufactured by an Indian vendor has exceeded in quality compared to the global version of the same equipment. A case in point is K9 Vajra, which provides several value-added services like predictive maintenance using IoT, which provides higher availability of the platform, a feature which was not available in earlier versions of the same equipment.

The government and services have provided extensive impetus for such solutions, and to such firms. Defence minister Rajnath Singh recently launched 75 artificial intelligence applications. The Indian Navy has recently decided to launch 75 challenges under iDEX for developing new and emerging capabilities- some of which are not offered by any country to India.

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Defence minister Rajnath Singh approved the latest list to cut down imports by defence public sector undertakings and achieve Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in the defence manufacturing sector, the ministry said in a statement.

This is the third list of “important line replacement units (LRUs)/sub-systems/components” placed under an import ban. It comes on the back of two similar lists published by the government in December 2021 and March 2022.

“These lists contain 2,500 items which are already indigenised and 458 items which will be indigenised within the given timelines. Out of 458, 167 items have been indigenised so far,” the defence ministry said.

The indigenous development of these sub-systems and components will bolster the economy, reduce the import dependence of DPSUs, help harness design capabilities of the domestic defence industry and position India as a leader in these technologies, it added.

The components and sub-systems sought to be produced locally include several items for Sukhoi-30 and Jaguar fighters, light combat aircraft and Dornier-228 planes; multiple systems for submarines, and equipment for T-90 and Arjun tanks.

To be sure, India has published three other lists imposing a phased import ban on 310 different types of weapons and platforms, including lightweight tanks, naval utility helicopters, artillery guns, missiles, destroyers, ship-borne cruise missiles, light combat aircraft, light transport aircraft, long-range land-attack cruise missiles, basic trainer aircraft and multi-barrel rocket launchers.

The latest list has been put out by the defence ministry at a time when the global backlash against Russia over its Ukraine invasion has raised questions about the fate of new projects with that country, procurement of spares for existing Russian-origin weapons, and maintenance and servicing of legacy equipment operated by the three services.

The earlier list, published in March, included sub-systems that India imports from Russia for weapons and platforms, including T-90 and T-72 tanks, BMP-II infantry combat vehicles, warships and submarines, and anti-tank missiles.

Russian-origin equipment forms the bedrock of India’s military capabilities and includes fighter jets, transport planes, helicopters, warships, submarines, tanks, infantry combat vehicles, multi-rocket systems, rifles, and even shoulder-fired missiles.

The government has taken several steps in recent years to boost self-reliance, including raising foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence manufacturing, creating a separate budget for buying locally made military hardware and notifying lists of weapons, equipment and sub-systems that cannot be imported.

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Last month, MoD gave approvals that will help the three armed forces quickly procure weapons and equipment up to Rs 300 crore per order, with deliveries to be ensured within a year.

It is learnt that several dozen projects are under discussion, with the private sector set to deliver a variety of weapons including swarm drones, long-range rockets, next generation mines, armed unmanned aerial vehicles and artificial intelligence-enabled systems.

Officials say that the focus will be on industry-led design and development, with proposals already received from companies. A high-level meeting in South Block this week is expected to further accelerate this process, for which the government has already allocated 25% of its annual research and development budget.

One of the proposals under discussion is a new tactical surface-to-surface missile, which will be a first of its kind project to be developed by the private sector. Being proposed by Economic Explosives Ltd, the 250 plus km range missile would be exponentially cheaper than the Brahmos and is fully indigenous. The ministry is also reviewing a proposal by the same company for guided Pinaka rockets, with a range of up to 150 km and new generation mines.

“We have in the past six months offered 15 Suo motu proposals including loitering munitions, surveillance drones, counter drone systems, drone-based mine detection and neutralisation systems, state-of-the-art anti-tank mine and long-range multi-launcher rocket systems that are being studied by the armed forces,” EEL chairman Satyanarayan Nuwal told ET.

The bar on imports under the emergency route was imposed after several rounds of internal discussions where it was agreed that capacity exists in the domestic sector to deliver on urgent requirements of the armed forces, officials said.

Another proposal being reviewed is for armed unmanned aerial vehicles that will be manufactured in the country at a fraction of import costs. The armed high-altitude long endurance drone is being developed by Adani Defence that already has a joint venture with Israel’s Elbit Systems. Sources said that it was being pitched as an indigenous and much more affordable substitute to the stalled proposal for armed Predator MQ 9B drones from the US.

The industry is also offering high-technology innovations to the armed forces, with IIT Delhi incubated start-up Botlab Dynamics in advanced stages of developing a path-breaking 3,500 swarm drone system. The company, which is currently looking for capital to expand operations, has submitted proposals for unique systems like disposable drones that can be used for quick surveillance by special forces, co-founder Sarita Ahlawat told ET.

Ministry officials say that the industry can be further accelerated on a public private partnership basis, with the private sector bringing in innovation and the public sector offering testing and manufacturing facilities that have been created over the years.

The corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board has allowed its newly created entities to create private sector partnerships and changes are expected in other large public sector units to gear up for a similar future.

A public private partnership that is showing results is the development of a high-altitude pseudo satellite that is being partially funded by the ministry. The project is being led by Newspace Research along with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

“The long-term focus should be on captive R&D for futuristic products within our country in a public private partnership format to develop next generation military hardware, which is a far bigger deal. Mandated PSUs can exploit the tech prowess and agility of start-ups to create the right impetus for next generation military products,” Newspace Research’s Sameer Joshi says.

Ministry officials say that the recent geopolitical situation has reaffirmed the need for self-reliance, given the uncertainties in supplies and spares due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Dependence on foreign sources for vital equipment, they say, can be leveraged and impact strategic sovereignty of the country.

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Releasing the third ‘positive indigenisation list,’ defence minister Rajnath Singh highlighted the pitfalls of operating imported weapons and systems whose software codes could be compromised and prove to be dangerous for the country’s security apparatus as it would open a “window of vulnerability.”

The list came out at a time when complications stemming from the wide-ranging sanctions slapped on Russia by the US and its allies on the back of the war in Ukraine have posed new challenges for the India-Russia defence relationship, put India’s military preparedness to the test and assigned new urgency to reduce dependence on imported military hardware to stay battle-ready.

These weapons and platforms will be indigenised in phases between December 2022 and December 2027.

Russia accounted for 46% of the country’s imports during the last five years even though India made fewer purchases from that country over the last decade. Its weapons exports to India fell 47% between 2012-16 and 2017-21, according to a report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) last month. Two-thirds of Indian military equipment is of Soviet/Russian origin.

The other military systems and platforms included in the third list are long range beyond-visual-range missiles that can hit targets at 250 km, long range guided bombs, medium range anti-ship missiles (ship launched), submarine-launched cruise missiles (anti-ship), long range reconnaissance and observation systems (Lorros), high endurance autonomous underwater vehicles, weapon locating radars, next generation offshore patrol vessels, anti-radiation missiles, counter-drone systems, rockets, torpedoes and other ammunition.

This list comes on the back of two similar lists of 101 and 108 weapons and systems released in August 2020 and May 2021, respectively. The new list has taken the combined number of weapons and systems under a phased import ban by India to 310.

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