NEW DELHI: With an aim to make India a hub for manufacturing weapon systems including ships, artillery guns and aircraft as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream agenda of ‘Make In India’ policy, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday held discussions with representatives of chambers of commerce and industry on the proposed Strategic Partnership model here.
A senior official of the ministry claimed that the Defence Acquisition Council(DAC), headed by the Defence Minister is expected to discuss the issue in its next scheduled meeting on Monday next week.
The proposed Partnership lays special focus on private players and industries having the capability of manufacturing high-end systems including submarines will be identified. These Indian companies will be allowed to have joint venture with foreign vendors having expertise in the respective sphere be it building warships, fighter jets and artillery guns.
Once the DAC gives the go-ahead, the Partnership proposal will come up before Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS). If cleared by the CCS, the Partnership project will form part of the Defence Procurement Policy(DPP).
The Defence Ministry is working towards institutionalising a transparent, objective and functional mechanism to encourage broader participation of the private sector in defence manufacturing under the ‘Make in India’ framework, defence ministry officials said here after the meeting.
The proposed model is intended to enhance competition, increase efficiencies, facilitate faster and more significant absorption of technology, create a tiered industrial ecosystem, ensure development of a wider skill base, trigger innovation and enable participation in global value chains as well as promote exports. This would gradually ensure greater self-reliance and dependability of supplies essential to meet national security objectives.
Officials said the industry representatives welcomed efforts of the Ministry to put in place such a framework and offered several positive and constructive suggestions. The Ministry has taken due note of these proposals, which would be considered while finalising the policy in this regard, according to senior official.