Modi blames past policies for dependence on military imports
Inaugurating the five-day DefExpo in Lucknow, Prime Minister sets $5 billion target for defence exports
LUCKNOW:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday blamed past policies for India’s decadesold dependence on imported military hardware and technologies and said wide-ranging policy reforms and steps taken to encourage defence manufacturing during the last five years would help the country clock exports worth ₹35,000 crore by 2025.
Inaugurating the 11th edition of DefExpo 2020, the PM said India became the world’s largest importer of weapons and systems because post-Independence it did not exploit its capabilities fully and policies remained focused on imports. The biennial military exhibition, being attended by more than 1,000 Indian and foreign firms, seeks to showcase the potential of the country as a global defence manufacturing hub.
“The world’s second-largest population, the world’s secondlargest army and the world’s largest democracy, how long could India depend on imports. And if we depend on imports, how will we fulfill the dream of becoming a $5 trillion economy,” the PM said.
The audience included defence minister Rajnath Singh, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, ministers from nearly 40 foreign countries, chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, the three services chiefs and top representatives of several Indian and foreign defence firms.
Modi said defence manufacturing had gained fresh momentum over the last five years because of a raft of policy reforms that covered ease of doing business, foreign direct investment and industrial licensing. He said creation of infrastructure and sharp focus on research and development would also fuel the growth of the defence sector.
The PM said India had exported military hardware worth ₹17,000 crore during the last two years, compared to ₹2,000 crore in 2014. He said the country’s target was to clock exports worth ₹35,000 in the next five years. This is in line with a draft Defence Production Policy --- released in March 2018 --- that visualises India as one of the top five countries in the aerospace and defence sectors in the com
Science and technology are making rapid strides into completely new domains that will change the character of future wars and battlefield conditions
RAJNATH SINGH, Defence minister
With better connections and better law and order, UP has emerged as a better destination for investors. DefExpo in Lucknow is a major opportunity for state govt
YOGI ADITYANATH, chief minister
years.
“We issued 217 defence licences in 2014. The number has grown to 460 in the last five years. India is manufacturing everything from artillery guns and aircraft carrier to submarines today. India’s share in global defence exports has increased. Now our aim is to increase defence exports to $5 billion or Rs 35,000 crore,” the PM said.
The PM promised ‘good returns’ to investors in the defence sector and said announcements for investment of ₹3,700 crore and ₹3,100 crore had already been made in two defence corridors coming up in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, respectively. He said the two corridors were likely to attract an investment of ₹20,000 crore in the next five years.
“Any amount you invest here will give you big returns. There is tremendous potential for investment in India. There is talent, technology, innovation, infrastructure, favourable policy and foreign investment is secure,” he said.
Modi said the country’s major industry bodies should create a common platform for defence manufacturing so that they could take advantage of both development and technology in the sector.
“Defence manufacturing should not be limited to only government institutions, but it should also have equal participation of the private sector,” he said, adding that India was not just a big market but also provided opportunities for investment to the world.
In his speech, Modi also highlighted India’s security challenges and the need to stay prepared to deal with them
Talking about the theme of this year’s DefExpo --- Digital Transformation of Defence, the PM said defence forces worldover were embracing new technologies and India was also keeping pace with them. “Our goal is to develop at least 25 products of artificial intelligence in the defence sector during the next five years,” he said. Another goal he talked about was bringing the number of micro, small and medium enterprises in the field of defence production to more than 15,000 in the next five years.
He also said that India’s presence in outer space was already strong and it was going to get stronger in the coming years.
“India’s space technology is playing an important role for 130 crore Indians from governance to security,” he said. Modi said Indian Space Research Organisation was exploring outer space for the country and the world while the Defence Research and Development Organisation was working on ways to protect these assets.
India’s presence in space was for welfare and not for warfare, he added.