Military experts welcome reform measures in defence sector

Military experts, on Saturday, welcomed the reform measures unrolled by minister of finance Nirmala Sitharaman to market the domestic defence industry, saying their proper implementation will help India significantly cut its ballooning import bill on weapons and military platforms. At a news conference , minister of finance Nirmala Sitharaman announced a series of initiatives to market indigenous defence production including making separate budgetary outlay to acquire Indian-made military hardware, increasing FDI limit from 49 per cent to 74 per cent under the automated route and generating a year-wise negative list of weapons whose import won’t be allowed. Experts said increasing the prevailing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap to 74 per cent would encourage global players like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus and Dassault Aviation to line up manufacturing hubs in India and convey niche technology without hesitation because the firms will have majority stakes in their Indian subsidiaries. India is one among the foremost lucrative markets for global defence giants because it figured among top three importers of military hardware within the world for the last eight years. consistent with estimates, the Indian soldiers are projected to spend around $130 billion in capital procurement within the next five years. “Nobody goes to offer us critical technology unless we offer them facilities to supply for the worldwide market,” former Army Chief Gen (retd) N C Vij said while welcoming the government’s reform initiatives within the defence sector. He said India must aim to become self-reliant in defence manufacturing because it would be difficult for the country to stay allocating scarce resources to import expensive weapons and platforms to confront complex security challenges along the northern and western borders. “The quite money we require to beat the safety challenges is such a lot . We cannot afford to form that sort of an allocation year-after-year. there's a requirement for us be self-reliant in defence production, particularly when our economy was hit hard following the COVID-19,” he said. Lt Gen (retd) Subrata Saha, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, identified the proposed ban on imports of certain weapons and platforms because the most vital announcement by Sitharaman. “In the method , the govt is giving fixed timelines for indigenous production of specific weapons and platforms. it'll confirm that there's accountability,” he said. Former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal (retd) Fali Major praised the government’s announcement on corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board, the nearly 200-year-old organisation that operates 41 ammunition production facilities across the country. “I welcome the reform initiatives. Raising of the FDI limit will give major impetus to defence production in India,” he said. Lt Gen Saha also lauded the announcement by minister of finance Nirmala Sitharaman that separate allocation within the budget would be made to acquire India-made military hardware besides the proposed fixing of project management teams to oversee implementation of specific programmes. Another defence expert, Lt Gen S L Narasimhan said the reform measures were within the offing for quite a while which they might provides a major push to the Make in India initiative within the defence sector. Gen Vij felt Finance Minister’s announcement would help India realise its goal of achieving defence exports worth $5 billion in next five years. “The reform measures are very timely and that they will significantly boost our defence industry,” the previous Army Chief said. In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target of $5 billion worth of military exports within the next five years and invited global defence majors to line up manufacturing hubs within the country. In her announcement, minister of finance Nirmala Sitharaman also said the method for the overall Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs) would be made realistic. within the GSQRs, the soldiers define criteria to acquire platforms and hardware. India was among the world's three top importers of military hardware. According to a modern report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a number one think-tank on military spending, India’s defence expenditure stood at USD 71.1 billion in 2019, which is that the third highest after the US and China. In 2017, the govt came up with an ambitious policy under which select private firms were to be roped in to create key military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with global defence majors.