India brings out draft defence production, export policy

Filed Picture: India’s defence ministry top brass including minister Rajnath Singh and secretary Dr Ajay Kumar during a recent official meeting in New Delhi.

New Delhi: To provide an impetus to self-reliance theme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India today made public a draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020, reiterating the already stated policy guidelines such as arms manufacturing target of Rs 175,000 crore ($25 billion), including Rs 35,000 crore ($5 billion) exports, by 2025.

Keeping pace with the multiple announcements on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat‘ (Self-reliant India) package for the defence sector, the Ministry of Defence said while implementing the framework, it has kept in mind the target of positioning India among the leading nations in defence and aerospace sectors,

The draft production and export promotion policy is aimed at developing “a dynamic, robust and competitive” defence industry, including aerospace and shipbuilding, to cater to the needs of the Indian armed forces with quality products, the defence ministry statement said.

The policy is envisaged as an overarching guiding document to provide a focused, structured and significant thrust to the defence production capabilities of Indian for self-reliance and exports, it said.

Among the goals and objectives laid out are reducing dependence on imports and take forward ‘Make in India‘ initiatives through domestic design and development; promoting export of defence products and become part of the global defence value chains; and creating an environment that encourages Research and Development, rewards innovation, creates Indian Intellectual Property ownership and promotes a robust and self-reliant defence industry.

The draft policy brings out multiple strategies under the following focus areas:

  1. Procurement Reforms
  2. Indigenisation and Support to MSMEs and Startups
  3. Optimise Resource Allocation
  4. Investment Promotion, Foreign Direct Investment and Ease of Doing Business
  5. Innovation and Research and Development
  6. Defence Public Sector Undertakings and Ordnance Factory Board
  7. Quality Assurance and Testing Infrastructure
  8. Export Promotion

The draft policy has been released for public consultation and for seeking inputs and comments from the stakeholders. Based on the comments received, the policy would be promulgated by the defence ministry. The last date for comments has been set as Aug. 17 and can be sent to email address dirpnc-ddp@nic.in, the statement said.

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