Reader TTS

Assuring private sector about improved Ease of Doing Business and level playing field, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has exhorted them to focus on Research and Development and capital

formation through investments in capital equipment, machinery and engineering strength. “In the longer run, companies which do not have the engineering manpower or the capital equipment or

the willingness to invest in R&D, should not think of entering into the defence domain, as their contribution to India’s strategic autonomy would not be significant until they make such

investments in creating localised manufacturing eco-system within the country,” he said. Advertisement The Defence Secretary was speaking in a defence conclave held in New Delhi on May

29-30, 2025. Advertisement Deliberating upon India’s Defence Vision, the Defence Secretary said it centres around Aatmanirbharta for preserving strategic autonomy of the country. It is also

critical in achieving the broader goal of Viksit Bharat, such as expanding our GDP from the current 4 Trillion Dollars to 32 Trillion Dollars by 2047, growing our manufacturing sector,

enhancing India’s start up culture and widening our industrial base, generating employment and also its spin-off benefits that come from dual use of technology. Underlining that the entire

process of indiginisation, of enhancing local industry, has had a significant impact over the last decade, the Defence Secretary said India has transitioned from being the top importer in

2015 to become one of the top 25 exporters today. Over 100 Indian companies are now exporting to 100 plus countries today. The list of products includes missiles such as Brahmos,rocket

launchers like Pinaka, simulators, armoured vehicles, the Dornier aircraft, different types of ships, offshore patrol vessels etc. He said the upsurge in exports can be gauged from the fact

that our exports have grown 30 times in the last ten years to Rs 23,622 crores in the last financial year. “Our defence industry today includes 16 Defence PSUs, 430 licensed companies and

approximately 16000 MSMEs. Domestic defence sales also increased from Rs 43746 crores in 2014 to Rs 127000 crores in 2023-24,” he said. Singh recalled that during the financial year 2024-25,

the Ministry of Defence has completely utilised the defence modernisation budget for the first time in the past five years. More importantly, the Ministry has signed contracts worth a

record of Rs 2 lakh crores during the last financial year, which is the highest ever achieved and double that of the figures for 2023-24. This will ensure that the process of modernisation

of armed forces keep pace. It would also help the Ministry in demanding higher share in the union budget, leading upto a minimum defence to GDP ratio of 2.5 per cent in five years as a first

step and thereafter upto 3 per cent in the medium term. Regarding the procurement timelines, MoD has already, in the year of reforms, slashed the timelines for some of the processes in the

procurement cycle, he said. This would save about 69 weeks overall, in the process timeline. The Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, the voluminous document laying out the procurement

process in detail, is being revisited to reflect the current realities. There is a need to shift away from the traditional nomination based cost-plus procurement focused mostly on public

sector to a more competitive pricing model where both the public and private sector can compete for orders. This approach is already being implemented for ship-building and recently for the

AMCA project, he added. Measures such as the concept of deemed licensing beyond a certain time frame to put accountability on concerned government departments, shifting from cost based

pricing to competitive bidding, removing legacy aspects such as product reservation for public sector units, slashing procurement timelines by weeding out rigid and redundant procedures,

would lead to genuine broadening and diversification of the defence industrial base, he said. Advertisement