Private sector participation necessary for indigenisation of defence requirements

There is a need to encourage private sector participation to promote indigenisation and achieve self-reliance as far as defence requirements are concerned.

Captain Aseem Anand, director, Directorate of Indigenisation, Indian Navy, said this at a meet in Kolkata on Thursday, where CII organized the second edition of a conference on industry-defence linkage.

Dr J Chattopadhyay, project director, Agni 1, DRDO, ministry of defence, said it is an opportune moment for the private enterprises to step forward and plunge to capture the huge market potentials of the defence industry. Demand is aplenty compared to the manufacturers. Indian Defence, together with private enterprises and R&D, will usher in a new era in the country, he said.

Rear Admiral A K Verma (retd.) chairman, Defence Task Force, CII Eastern Region & CMD, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited, stated that the defence industry today has huge scope for every player in the sector. Hence, the private sector has to integrate itself in the market. "Eastern India is brimming with emerging opportunities in sectors like machineries, electrical items and hulls, to mention a few, which the industry must avail of," he said.

Over the years, Indian industry has been playing a significant role as sub-contractors and ancillaries to the defence sector. It has been involved in supplying raw materials, semi-finished products, and components to defence PSUs and ordnance factories to a great extent. With Government of India, continuously increasing its expenditure in defence and endeavouring to indigenize defence equipment, opportunities are abundant for the industry, including MSMEs, to partner with the defence sector, the speakers observed.