Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
Ministry of Defence, on March 30, 2023, signed contracts with Indian shipyards for acquisition of 11 Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels and six Next Generation Missile Vessels at an overall cost of approx. Rs 19,600 crore. Image Source: IANS
Incentivised by various government reforms, India is quickly ramping up its manufacturing capacity. The Government of India has been focusing on making India a ‘defence exporting nation’ rather than a ‘defence importing nation.’
The defence manufacturing sector has seen some major developments, investments and support from the government in the recent past. Considering the increasing security risks India is facing, the defence manufacturing sector is expected to experience significant expansion. This will increase demand for defence technology. Incentivised by various government reforms, India is quickly ramping up its manufacturing capacity. The Government of India has been focusing on making India a ‘defence exporting nation’ rather than a ‘defence importing nation.’
In a huge boost to achieve ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence, Ministry of Defence, on March 30, 2023, signed contracts with Indian shipyards for acquisition of 11 Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels and six Next Generation Missile Vessels at an overall cost of approx. Rs 19,600 crore. Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata were awarded the contract for the purchase of 11 Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels under the Purchase (Indian-IDDM) category for a total of Rs 9,781 crore. Seven of the 11 ships will be locally created, produced, and designed by GSL, and four by GRSE. The delivery of the ships is scheduled to commence from September 2026.
The Indian Army will receive 12 Weapon Locating Radars, WLR Swathi (Plains), and an enhanced Akash Weapon System at a cost of over Rs 9,100 crore, according to contracts signed by the Ministry of Defence on March 30, 2023. A contract worth over Rs 8,160 crore was inked with Bharat Dynamics Ltd for the purchase of the upgraded Akash Weapon System (AWS) for the 3rd and 4th Regiments of Army Air Defence, which includes live missiles and launchers with improvements, ground support equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure, providing a further boost to 'Aatmanirbharta' in defence. The AWS is a Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SRSAM) Air Defence System, indigenously designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The project will give a boost to the Indian missile manufacturing industry in particular and the indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem as a whole. The project has overall indigenous content of 82 percent which will be increased to 93 percent by 2026-27.
The contract for WLR Swathi (Plains) was signed with Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) at a cost of over Rs 990 crore. It is an indigenously designed WLR which is capable of locating guns, mortars and rockets firing own troops, thereby facilitating their destruction through Counter Bombardment by own firepower resources. This project will give the defence sector a great chance to show off its capabilities and will move the defence industry closer to realising the vision of "Aatmanirbharta."
On March 30, 2023, the Ministry of Defence and BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) signed a contract for the purchase of Next Generation Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries (Long range) or "NGMMCB (LR)" and BrahMos Missiles under the Buy (Indian) Category at a projected cost of over Rs 1,700 crore. With the active involvement of indigenous businesses, this deal will further encourage domestic manufacturing of vital weapon systems and ammunition. Over the course of four years, this initiative will provide more than 90,000 man-days of employment. These systems will proudly fly the banner of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat," with the majority of the equipment and subsystems coming from domestic producers.
In order to keep providing a boost to the indigenous defence production, the Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bengaluru for the procurement of 13 Lynx-U2 Fire Control systems for the Indian Navy under the Buy {Indian – IDMM (Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured)} category at a total cost of Rs 1,700 crore.
Source: India Brand Equity Foundation
Government has taken various steps to improve Indian defence products and make them competitive globally. To achieve "Aatmanirbharta in Defence," the government has placed a focus on the indigenization of several defence products. The locally produced indig12.2enous goods become globally cost competitive, and it also makes it easier for MSMEs to be integrated into the global supply chain. Regularly and without charge, the DRDO transfers new technologies to the industries. Industries have been provided free excess to DRDO patents. DRDO conducts Niche Technology Demonstrations by engaging industries. This provides a dual benefit by assisting industries with user inputs for product improvement and for self-testing and evaluation of their products in field conditions.
The defence production in India was at an all-time high during 2017-18 at $12.2 Billion. There was a decline in the defence production in 2018-19 and 2019-20. One of the major reasons was the covid-19 pandemic which resulted in the nationwide lockdown for a long period of time and also the disruption in supply chains. But the government once again ramped up its efforts to increase the defence production in India as this is evident from the figures of 2020-21. The defence production increased to $10.9 Billion in the year 2020-21 and it ascended to $11.85 Billion in 2021-22. India is also emerging as the defence exported along with defence producer. At present, the exports are being made to more than 80 countries all over the world. Names of the countries cannot be divulged due to strategic reasons.
Though India has emerged as the world’s largest importer of arms from 2018-22, its indigenous defence production and measures taken to boost the defence exports cannot be ignored. The Ministry of Defence has also been rapidly increasing its footprint in the indigenous manufacturing of the advanced artillery systems. This was not only visible through the use of indigenous 105 mm howitzer at the Republic Day celebrations in 2023 but also through the use of Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) at the Independence Day Celebrations at the Red Fort in 2022. As part of the Indian Army's artillery modernisation programme, the DRDO has taken over the development of the new generation of weapons. Also, in order to promote indigenous design and development of defence equipment ‘Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)}’ category in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 has been accorded top most priority for procurement of capital equipment.
