Defence firms get licensing assurance

Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday issued directions to officials to address top military firms’ concerns over licensing and tax issues and reiterated the government’s commitment to facilitating private sector participation in defence manufacturing.

Sitharaman discussed various issues relating to implementation of the “Make in India” initiative in the defence sector with representatives of Confederation of Indian Industry, including top executives of a number of Indian and foreign defence firms.

The minister issued directions to the team of officers headed by the defence secretary for time-bound action on key issues raised at the round table, including the resolution of licensing with the home ministry, tax related matters with the finance ministry and commercialisation of technologies developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the ministry said. A wide range of issues, including matters relating to licensing, taxes and duties and ways to speed up the procurement processes were discussed at the meeting.

Ways to streamline the offsets regime and creation of a tiered defence industrial ecosystem with full integration and skilling of manpower in the micro, small and medium enterprises sector were also deliberated upon during the meeting.

Sitharaman conveyed to the top executives of the private defence industry that the government was “fully committed” to removing all the stumbling blocks and facilitating private participation in defence manufacturing with the objective of bringing highvalue foreign investment into the sector, officials said.

She told them the focus of the initiative was to ensure self-reliance in meeting India’s defence needs and that the government would provide a level playing field to industry.