Defence Minister urges defence PSUs “to be more dynamic”

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has underlined the need for revitalising defence PSUs and ordnance factories for meeting the requirements of India’s defence forces. “The management of these organisations need to be ahead of the curve and show dynamism as they possess immense and valuable assets that could offer manufacturers huge production opportunities,” she said. The government is also encouraging private investment in defence production, including liberalisation of foreign direct investment and also proposes to bring out an industry-friendly Defence Production Policy 2018 to promote domestic production by public sector, the private sector and MSMEs. She said that the Defence Ministry was encouraged by the quantum of outsourced components in defence manufacturing which had risen to 29% in FY 2016-17.