NEW DELHI: With an aim to continue its pursuit of self-reliance in defence manufacturing, the Ministry of Defence has approved another list of 107 strategically important Line Replacement Units (LRUs)/sub-systems with a timeline beyond which there will be an embargo on their import.
These will be indigenised in the coming years and can only be procured from Indian Industry after the dates indicated against each of them. The list includes products whose imports will cease starting from December this year to those whose imports will cease in December 2028.
The items include valves, bearings, electronic warfare suits, antennas and hovercrafts among the others.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in its statement on Thursday said, "Indigenisation of these items will be taken up by DPSUs under 'Make' category which aims to achieve self-reliance by involving greater participation of Indian industry."
Projects involving the design and development of equipment, systems, major platforms or upgrades thereof by the industry can be taken up under this category, added the MoD.
Further, the DPSUs will offer these identified LRUs/Sub-systems for industry-led design and development. MoD says this will be a great opportunity for the Indian industry "to get integrated into the supply chains of manufacturing major defence platforms".
The indigenous development of these LRUs/Sub-systems projects will bolster the economy and reduce the import dependence of DPSUs. In addition, it will help harness the design capabilities of the domestic defence industry and position India as a design leader in these technologies, the MoD noted.
This list is in continuation to the Positive Indigenisation List of 2,851 sub-systems/Assemblies/Sub-Assemblies/Components which had been earlier notified by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence on December 27, 2021.
The MoD also has issued a list of weapons and platforms which will not be imported after the given timelines. These include transport aircraft, light combat helicopters, conventional submarines, missiles and sonar systems. The first such list of 101 weapons and platforms was released in August 2020. Another list of 108 weapons and platforms including tank engines, radars, corvettes was released in May 2021.
The government is aiming to usher in this change at a time when India is among the top importers of foreign-manufactured weapons and equipment. As per a projection India is likely to spend around $130 billion in procuring such weapons and systems in the coming five years.