New Delhi, Jan 21 (Mayank Nigam) The Union Government has launched major path-breaking reforms to revolutionise the economic scenario of the nation, stated Anurag Bajpai, Joint Secretary, Defence Industries Production (DIP), Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, here on Friday. In this context, he mentioned that the launching of Atmanirbhar Bharat in pursuit of self-reliance and the National Master Plan for Multi-modal connectivity to prevent wastage of money or time due to a lack of coordination in infrastructure projects are the most significant. He was speaking at Bharat Chamber of Commerce-organised One-Day Conclave on ‘Transforming India’s Defence Sector: Opportunities for MSMEs’ in partnership with the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, on the Policy Initiatives related to MSMEs in defence production.
Speaking on the budgetary incentives that the Government has rolled out to support startups and defence manufacturing industries, Bajpai informed that in the last Central Budget, Rs. 84,598 crore, that is, 68 percent of the military’s capital acquisition budget has been earmarked for purchasing locally produced weapons and systems to boost self-reliance in the defence sector. In addition to this, 25 percent of the defence R&D budget has been set aside for private industry, startups and academia to encourage them to pursue the design and development of military platforms, he added. The Conclave was aimed at encouraging MSMEs to venture into the defence supply chain of the country and contribute towards the booming defence exports market. Praveen Kumar, Deputy Director General in his address outlined the Government’s PPP approach towards defence production, which consists of a definitive Philosophy, Policy and Procedure.
“Here Philosophy is Make-in-India and Atmanirbharta, Policy is Defence Acquisition and Offset Policies and Procedure is Ease of Doing Business”, he stated. He informed that more than 50 offset contracts with foreign OEMs have been signed worth US$ 13 billion in the last 13 years. He requested the MSMEs to visit the military-industrial complex and get in touch with the foreign OEMs for sourcing lucrative business deals. In this regard, he felt that soon a regional Outreach Programme with foreign OEMs and MSMEs needs to be organised in Kolkata. Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, PVSM, AVSM, VM (Retd.), Advisor, Defence Sub-Committee of the Chamber observed that MSMEs can have a profitable business in MRO activities since the money spent in the entire lifecycle of an aircraft is huge and it requires upgradation every 20 to 25 years. He emphasised that any venture with the Armed Forces would ensure a profitable partnership for the MSMEs for a period of 30 to 40 years if quality products are supplied.