Hope new defence procurement policy will reduce dependency on other nations: Rao Inderjit Singh

PANAJI: The Centre hopes that the new Defence Procurement Procedure would help India reduce its dependency on foreign countries and source defence equipment from within the country, Union Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh today said.

"....all defence procurement, the capital side of it, is from abroad. In the years to come one hopes we will be able to source it within India, either as a partnership with foreign companies or through our own domestic industrial base which so far has been kept away from the defence spectrum," Singh said during the inauguration of Defence Expo in Goa.

The Defence Ministry today unveiled its much-awaited Defence Procurement Procedure during the DefExpo, which began at Betul-Naqueri village, about 50 kms from Panaji.

"Over the last century, we have passed through a phase which is called industrial revolution. But India as a country unfortunately is still not being able to achieve what other developed countries have been able to achieve in terms of manufacturing," Singh said.

"We have not had an industrial revolution as such, we are still considered an agrarian country...Over the past 70 odd years, we have been able to set up a robust manufacturing base within the country, possibly because of our industries and government policies," he noted.

"Today we are hoping that we will not just be able to manufacture in India, but also design and develop in India... this is what we look forward to," Singh said.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar were present on the occasion.

The four-day DefExpo began today in Goa with more than 1,000 companies and 47 countries participating in it.

Singh requested the participating countries and companies to work out a model wherein 'Make In India' happens primarily with design and development within the country.

"We will ensure level-playing field for the people when they come to India so that the country can be an exporter of defence equipment," he said.

This is for the first time that the DefExpo is being held outside New Delhi.