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: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday urged private industries to scale up their capability and capacity to match the production gap with the defence PSUs and make the country’s military architecture export oriented.
Speaking at the Seventh Annual Session 2024 of the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), the apex body of the Indian defence industry, Rajnath Singh expressed happiness over the fact that the annual defence production touched a record high of
While the share of DPSUs was ₹1 lakh crore, private companies contributed with about ₹27,000 crore, the senior Minister pointed out.
Promising government support, he stated that there is a huge scope for increasing the share of private industries, and the next target should be to bring their participation to at least half of the total defence production, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement to media.
The Minister called upon the industry to keep in mind the export and import figures, and strive to reduce the ratio between the two with a target-oriented approach even as he lauded the major contribution of the private sector in taking the defence exports to a record high of over ₹21,000 crore in FY 2023-24, the MoD stated.
Challenges faced
The Minister acknowledged the challenges small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups face in achieving ease of doing business. He urged SIDM to work closely with the government to address ground-level issues & help these enterprises to play a larger role in defence manufacturing.
“It is important to ensure that our policies translate into ease of doing business at the ground level. SIDM can help in identifying the practical challenges faced by start-ups and SMEs so that we can address them,” he said.
Singh, however, said due to the government’s efforts, overall an environment conducive to ease of doing business in the country has been created, and a target set for making India’s defence industry export-oriented.
The government, to realise PM Narendra Modi’s vision of making country a global manufacturing hub, will provide a renewed thrust in its third consecutive term to its ongoing efforts towards developing a robust, innovative and self-reliant defence ecosystem, he said.
Highlighting the government’s focus to encourage foreign companies and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to invest in India or open joint ventures with the private industry, Singh called upon SIDM to prepare a roadmap for collaboration on a firm-to-firm basis.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the SIDM, meanwhile, signed an agreement to create a future-ready workforce for the Defence and Aerospace sectors.
The MoU was exchanged between the Chairman of AICTE, Prof TG Sitharam, and SIDM President Rajinder Singh Bhatia, in the presence of Defence Minister.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, SIDM President Rajinder Singh Bhatia and captains of the industry were among those present on the occasion.
During the session, Singh also presented the SIDM Champion Awards, which recognise outstanding achievements in defence manufacturing.
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