The Defence Ministry has zeroed in on 25 projects under the Make in India programme, and these would soon be opened up for private sector participation, said AK Gupta, Secretary of the Department of Defence Production, on Tuesday.

Speaking to BusinessLine on the sidelines of a seminar on defence and aerospace at the Make in India event here, Gupta said that since 2001, the sector has been opened up for private participation.

The Department has issued 319 licences to 197 companies. Of these, 150 licences were issued over the past 18 months. About 50 companies have already started production, he said.

India has the third largest armed forces in the world with about 31.5 per cent of the defence budget being spent on capital acquisitions. Imports take care of 60 per cent of the requirement. Over the next 10 years the country is expected to invest about ₹15 lakh crore in defence equipment.

Gupta added that in the new Defence Procurement Policy, set to be made public soon, winning a tender under the L1 category will not be the only criteria for getting the final order. The products will also have to clear certain quality criteria.

Addressing the seminar, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd Chairman T Suvarna Raju said that in light combat aircrafts , 145 components are imported and HAL wants these to be indigenised.

In advanced light helicopters, light combat helicopters and light utility helicopters, about 50 per cent of the components are imported. It is not beyond the technical capabilities of Indian companies to make these, he added.

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