French firms cheer PM's Make In India campaign

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make In India campaign has infused new energy in French defence companies to start manufacturing units in the country.

Updated on: Dec 27, 2014, 24:25:38 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, Paris

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make In India campaign has infused new energy in French defence companies to start manufacturing units in the country. India is expected to invest $200 billion in the next decade to modernise its armed forces.

While some of the French defence companies have already tied up with Indian companies to start defence manufacturing units in India, their concern remains no clarity in policy and unavailability of skill manpower to meet the "new challenge".

French defence companies have linked up projects worth $35 billion for Indian armed forces including Dassault Aviation's Rafale jet fighters, short-range surface-to-air missiles (SRSAM) and mid-air refuellers. Some of these deals are in final stage of negotiations and the French companies are expecting positive response from the government in early 2015.

"We are encouraged by Make In India campaign and expect quick decision from the new government," said Jean-Michel Domitrovic, head of international affairs in Nexter, a company specializing in heavy road equipment for Army. The company already has an agreement with Ashok Leyland and Larsen and Toubro for manufacturing mounted ground system (MGS) apart from 1,480 total gun system (TGS) that will be domesticated.

Adding to this campaign, MBDA is working on the Indian design of its SRSAM missile called Maitri with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The company is also working with DRDO on Akash Mark 2 missile for the Indian Air Force. "We expect decision on the programme soon," said Jean-Paul Faye, head of battlefield and new cooperation division at MBDA.

Another French major DCNS, which is building Scorpene submarines for Indian Navy through its domestic partner Mazgaoin Docks Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, it is eyeing Rs 16,000 crore amphibious warships, called Landing Platform Docks (LPDs) project. DCNS has tied up with Indian private shipyard Pipavav for this project. The French defence companies also want to sell high grade defence equipment to monitor the space and to improve space intelligence.

(The author's visit was sponsored by the French government)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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