BENGALURU: India is to soon set up a defence innovative fund to encourage new entrants in the aviation sector, especially startups, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said at the Aero India 2017 air show in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
The five-day event will see the participation of 279 foreign and 270 Indian companies.
India’s public sector giants HAL and BEL will participate in the initiave whose main principle is to encourage research & development in defence aviation, minister Parrikar said. Accordingly, defence PSUs have been asked to increase outsourcing of their work to make the sector more vibrant.
With the Indian government’s new focus on boosting home-grown defence companies, we are likely to see an increase in the number of private players in the defence and aviation sectors in the coming years. Towards this end, New Delhi has already relaxed FDI norms in the two sectors, and will take more measures to ensure greater ease of doing business, Parrikar said.
“The government is committed to creating an enabling environment for manufacturers in the defence sector. Additional initiatives are going to be unveiled to promote businesses in the sector. The industrial licences issued to private players is testimony of the government’s will. Not just manufacturing, the government is keen on promoting design too,” he stated.
To make Aero India 2017 more attractive, the defence and civil aviation sectors have been combined for this year’s edition, the defence minister said.
Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati said at present, civil aviation in India is almost the size of the railways and the government was focusing on making under-utilised airports more viable, to increase the scope of the sector in the country.