NEW DELHI: In a major boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push for Make in India, 81 licences have been given to manufacturers in the defence sector since September last year, while only 34 proposals for joint venture had come up since 2000 under successive UPA regimes.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said since the launch of ‘Make in India’ initiative in September 2014, the Department of Industrial Policy &Promotion has issued 81 industrial licences to 61 companies for manufacture of various items for the defence sector. He also said 34 FDI proposals/joint ventures have been approved in the sector since 2000, both with Indian public and private sector companies.
In another reply, the minister informed the Rajya Sabha that over 61 per cent of the 65,591 crore defence contracts in 2014-15 went to Indian vendors while the rest were bagged by foreign players. “The expenditure on capital acquisition in respect of order placed with Indian vendors and foreign vendors for the period 2014-15 was 40,589.98 crore (61.89 per cent) and 24,992.36 crore (38.11 per cent), respectively,” Rao Inderjit Singh, said in written response to a question in Rajya Sabha.
During 2014-15 and the current year, contracts have been signed with foreign vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment such as missiles, simulators, helicopters, rockets and guns, the minister added. Information related to employment of Indians in such projects is not maintained by the department, he said. The minister said capital procurement of defence equipment is guided by Defence Procurement Procedure and the timelines given therein. The timelines are specifically prescribed in each contract.