Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Governmentis continuously working to create an indigenous ecosystem for the development of defence equipment in the country by emphasising self-reliance and Make in India.
He was delivering the inaugural address at a post-Budget webinar titled ‘Aatmanirbharta in DefenceCall to Action’, on February 25. The webinar, organised by the Ministry of Defence, was the fourth in the series of the post-Budget webinars addressed by the PM.
The Prime Minister said this year’s Budget has a blueprint for developing a vibrant ecosystem for research, design, and development of manufacturing within the country.
Speaking on how the Budget will help further self-reliance in defence sector, Mr. Modi said, about 70 per cent of the defense budget has been kept for domestic industry.
The Prime Minister said that the theme of the webinar ‘Aatmnirbharta in Defence – Call to Action’ indicates the mood of the nation. The recent years’ effort to strengthen Aatmnirbharta in the defence sector is clearly visible in this year’s Budget. He recalled that India’s defence manufacturing was quite strong even during the period of slavery and in the immediate aftermath of Independence. Indian made weapons played a major role during the Second World War.
“Though, in the later years, this prowess of ours went into decline, still it shows that there has been no dearth of capabilities, neither then nor now”, he said.
The Defence Ministry has, so far, released Positive Indigenisation Lists of more than 200 defence Platforms and Equipments. After this announcement, the Prime Minister informed, contract worth rupees 54 thousand crore have been signed for domestic procurement. Apart from this, PM continued, procurement process of more than Rs. 4.5 lakh crore worth of equipment is at various stages. The third list is expected soon, he said.
The Prime Minister noted that cyber security is no longer confined to the digital world but has become asubject of national security. “The more we deploy our formidable IT power in the defence sector, the more confident we will be regarding our security”, he said.
Noting the competition among the defence manufacturers for contracts, the Prime Minister said it often led to money-focus and corruption. A lot of confusion was created with regard to quality and desirability of weapons. Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan tackles this problem also, he said.
Prime Minister also said that the private sector should also come on par with DRDO and defence PSUs, hence 25 per cent of defence R&D budget has been kept for industry, startups and academia. Special Purpose Vehicle model has also been arranged in the Budget. “This will establish the role of the private industry as a partner beyond just a vendor or supplier”, he said.
Modi exhorted the stakeholders to come forward with new ideas for timely implementation of the Budget provisions. He asked them to take full advantage of the advancement of the Budget date by one month in recent years and hit the ground running when date of Budget implementation arrives.
