NEW DELHI, Aug 9 - In a major push to promote the domestic defence industry, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday announced restrictions on import of 101 weapons and military platforms including light combat helicopters, transport aircraft, conventional submarines and cruise missiles by 2024.
Making the announcement on Twitter, the Defence Minister estimated that the domestic defence industry would receive contracts worth almost Rs four lakh crore within the next five to seven years as a result of the decision to prune the import list.
Singh said the Defence Ministry is now ready for a �big push� to boost indigenous defence manufacturing in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s call for �Atmanirbhar Bharat� (Self-Reliant India).
According to officials, the list of 101 items includes towed artillery guns, short range surface to air missiles, cruise missiles, offshore patrol vessels, electronic warfare systems, next generation missile vessels, floating dock, anti-submarine rocket launchers and short range maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
The list also includes basic trainer aircraft, lightweight rocket launchers, multi-barrel rocket launchers, missile destroyers, sonar systems for ships, rockets, ASTRA-MK I beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, light machine guns and artillery ammunition (155 mm) and ship-borne medium range guns.
Singh�s announcement came a week after a draft defence procurement policy of the Defence Ministry projected a turnover of Rs 1.75 lakh crore (USD 25 billion) in defence manufacturing by 2025.
India is one of the most lucrative markets for global defence giants. The country figured among the top three importers of military hardware in the world for the last eight years. According to estimates, the Indian armed forces are projected to spend around USD 130 billion in capital procurement in the next five years.
�This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. It also offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by the DRDO,� Singh said.
In another relevant step, he said the Defence Ministry has bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. � PTI
