NEW DELHI: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday issued directions to officials for addressing military firms’ concerns over licensing and tax issues and reiterated the government’s commitment to facilitating private sector’s participation in defence manufacturing.The minister discussed various issues relating to implementation of the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative in the defence sector with representatives of industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), including top executives of a number of Indian and foreign defence firms.
Sitharaman 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 defence ministry said.
It 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.