In recent years India has seen rising defence proposals worth close to ₹ 2 trillion under various categories of capital0 acquisition, which promote domestic manufacturing under the defence Acquisition/procurement procedure. Exports also are rising.
The government has implemented the ‘Make in India initiative in the defence sector through various policy initiatives to promote indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence items.
During the last two financial years – 2018-19 and 2019-2020 and 2020- 21till December 2020, the government accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to 112 defence proposals, worth ₹1,99,860 crores, under the various categories of capital acquisition, which promote domestic manufacturing under the Defence Acquisition/Procurement Procedure. Under the Make in India initiatives, India has seen many significant projects coming up.
The projects included 155mm artillery gun system Dhanush, bridge laying tank, thermal imaging sight mark-II for T-72 tank, light combat aircraft Tejas, Akash surface-to-air missile system, submarine INS Kalvari, INS Chennai, anti- submarine warfare corvette (ASWC), Arjun armoured repair and recovery vehicle, landing craft utility, etc.
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) and private players exported many items from India (See box). The government also has awarded contracts for various capital acquisition requirements of the government in the Defence Sector to domestic, public and private sector companies, including those situated in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, OFB and DPSUs have placed orders with Indian vendors for the supply of various items and
components. The government has established Defence Industrial Corridor with six nodes at Aligarh, Agra, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Lucknow and Kanpur to develop a defence manufacturing ecosystem and promote indigenous manufacturing.
