'Make in India' for defence sector a fantastic approach from Modi government: Baba Kalyani

NEW DELHI: Calling the Modi government's ' Make in India' initiative a fantastic one, Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge told ET Now that India can create a fairly extensive defence manufacturing capability.

"It (Make in India) is a fantastic strategic approach from the government's side. India has the capability to create a fairly extensive defence manufacturing capability in many areas and as a country and as an industry, we have matured in terms of technology and capability to make this happen."

"This push from the government in terms of policy and enabling provisions in the policy is welcome. They will do the rights things to get India into a strong position as a large manufacturer of defence hardware," Kalyani said.

Asked about the interest of foreign companies in Indian defence sector, Kalyani said, "Almost everybody in the world wants to have some relationship with companies in India in this space. Companies that are engaged in this business outside in the western world understand this far better than anyone." "As India creates a manufacturing hub for defence, they want to be a part of this process. Hence, there is tremendous amount of interest there," he added.

Talking about Bharat Forge's focus on defence, he said, "We have focused our attention on two or three areas and we continue to do good work there. There are a lot of programmes that are coming up in these areas and I am sure we will participate very actively in these programmes. We are quite optimistic about it."