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Domestic defence buys rose in 3 years: Centre in Lok Sabha
The domestic procurement of defence equipment has seen an upward trend in the last three years, from 54% in 2018-19 to 64% in 2020-21, Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt informed Lok Sabha on Friday.
The domestic procurement of defence equipment has seen an upward trend in the last three years, from 54% in 2018-19 to 64% in 2020-21, Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt informed Lok Sabha on Friday.
The government aims to increase this share further to 68% this year, he added.
In a written response to a series of questions from Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan Ruhi, the minister said that import of defence equipment during 2017-2021 was between 33.97% and 41.60%.
In the Union Budget announced on February 1, India earmarked ₹84,598 crore – 68% of the military’s capital acquisition budget – for purchasing locally produced weapons and systems to boost self-reliance in the defence sector, besides setting aside 25% of the defence R&D budget for private industry, startups and academia to encourage them to pursue design and development of military platforms.
To achieve atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence, the Centre has so far released three lists “positive indigenisation lists” of over 300 defence equipment that the ministry will no longer clear for import over the next five years.
On Tuesday, the government cleared purchases worth ₹28,732 crore, including of armed drone swarms, carbines and bullet-proof jackets, that will be designed and developed in the country.
“An innovation ecosystem for Defence titled Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) has been launched in April 2018 to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, Start-ups, Individual Innovators, R&D institutes and Academia, and provide them grants/funding and other support to carry out R&D which has potential for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace needs.” Bhatt said.
“So far, 125 problems have been opened, 136 startups have been engaged, 95 contracts have been signed,” he added.
Additionally, the government has approved a scheme with an outlay of ₹498.78 crore (2021-22 to 2025-26) to push innovation and support startups in defence and aerospace sector. “This will enable more than 300 startups to participate in the new design and development projects and also support 20 partner incubators,” he said.
The minister also said that a Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS) has been formulated for creating six to eight Greenfield Defence Testing Infrastructures in the country. “The scheme would help in achieving ‘Atmanirbharta’ in the Defence Testing Infrastructure for the domestic industry,” he said.
Referring to a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report, the ministry acknowledged that India ranks third in military spending globally, after the US and China.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in the past said that customisation and uniqueness of military hardware was critical to hold the advantage of surprise over India’s adversaries and that this could be achieved only if weapons and systems are developed in the country.
