BENGALURU: The defence and aerospace manufacturing corridor needs to be strengthened at the earliest. Presently, we are a nation of assemblers in the defence and aerospace corridor. There is a need to change this and make it a nation of manufacturers by strengthening indigenous manufacturing in a time-bound manner, said Dr VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, on Friday.
He said that manufacturing, not compromising on quality and quantity, needs to be enhanced. There is also a need to have better strategies to accelerate testing. The acquisition and merger polices and schemes also need to be better streamlined, he added. He was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day-long international conference on Advanced Design and Manufacturing of Aerospace Systems, organised by The Aeronautical Society of India in the City. Delegates from 10 countries are participating in the conference along with domain experts from the Indian Air Force, HAL, NAL, DRDO and the private sector.
Saraswat said, “The biggest problem in India is adhering to timelines. The manufacturing sector needs to be more efficient and reliant in the defence, aerospace, global connectivity, planetary observations and other allied sectors.”
He pointed out that there is a need to build engines for Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft and LCA Tejas without being affected or depending upon suppliers. He said, “Do not depend upon companies, but create your own. Collaborations should be done to make things easy. There is a shortage of skilled workforce, and balancing aerospace engineering is a major concern for the standards that need to be met. Adaptation and modernising technology are required for a robust economy,” he said.
Also present on the occasion, former secretary, Department of Space and ISRO chairman Dr S Somanath said, indigenous manufacturing has become a major topic of discussion and a serious concern.
“The supply chain capability is very constrained, and we continue to depend upon others in machinery, tools and manufacturing. In the domain of the advanced design sector, we are very slow, and thus there is a need to increase our in-house capability. The manufacturing sector in ISRO also needs to be strengthened,” he added.
Somanath said, “The ecosystem here also needs to be improved. Ideas are there, but the execution needs to be scaled up. Bringing in technologies from other countries is challenging. Thus, strong recommendations should be made to the NITI Aayog to strengthen the defence and aerospace sector, he said.
Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Former Secretary DDR&D and Chairman, DRDO, said, there is a need to have clear, advanced, optimal designs. This is because if this is addressed, then optimum utilisation can be done. Development and works need to be intensified in the next 1-2years for India to become a superpower.