New Delhi, Feb 25 (Agency) Cyber security is no longer limited to the digital world but it has become a matter of security of the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, adding that India’s strength lies in the IT sector. “Today, the defence equipment are being rapidly made worldwide with the latest technological advancements. So we should tap India’s IT sector to scale our Make In India vision of the defence sector,” he said.
He was speaking at the inaugural session on a post-budget webinar of the Defence Ministry on ‘Aatmanirbharta in Defence – Call to Action’. Modi said this year’s budget has a blueprint for developing a vibrant ecosystem from research, design and development to manufacturing within the country itself. “Nearly 70 per cent of defence budget has been earmarked only for domestic industry. When we bring weapons from outside, the process is so long that by the time they reach our security forces, many of them have been outdated. The solution lies in Self Reliant India Campaign and Make in India,” he said. Modi said it was heartening to know that in the last five to six years, India has increased the defence exports by six times. “Today we are providing Made in India Defence Equipment and Services to more than 75 countries,” he said.
“Our ordinance factories are a great example of what we get when we move forward with utmost sincerity. Last year we built seven new Defence Public Undertakings. Today, they are expanding business rapidly, reaching new markets,” he said. He said that due to the government’s focus on Make in India, more than 350 new industrial licenses have been issued for defence manufacturing in the last seven years “while only 200 licences were issued in 14 years from 2001 to 2014. “Today when our defence sector utilizes Make in India equipment, their confidence and pride reaches new heights,” he said. “The system of trial, testing and certification needs to be transparent, time-bound, pragmatic and fair for the development of a vibrant defence industry. For this, an independent system can prove to be useful in solving problems.”