Manufacturing cutting-edge products need of the hour: Rajnath Singh at Aero India 2023

Bengaluru, Feb 13 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday urged Indian and global industry leaders to support the governments push for design, development and manufacture of cutting-edge products using critical technologies in the country to attain complete Aatmanirbharta in the field of defence.

"The overall objective is to achieve shared global peace and prosperity," he said while addressing a gathering of over 70 CEOs from local and global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) during a Round Table organised as part of the Aero India 2023 here on Monday.

Singh said, "India does not want to remain just an assembly workshop and is looking to engage with friendly countries in defence and security based on sharing expertise and capabilities under the �Make in India, Make for the World' vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

He assured the industry leaders that the government is open to new ideas and is committed to fully harness the energy, entrepreneurial spirit and capability of private sector partners in the area of defence production. He extended the government's full support towards removing obstacles and facilitating businesses.

Singh reiterated the Centre's resolve of nurturing a vibrant and world-class defence manufacturing industry, terming it as the key driver of Indian economy.

He enumerated a number of far-reaching reforms undertaken by Ministry of Defence to create a business-friendly climate in the country. These include setting up of defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; simplification of industrial licensing process; hike in cap on FDI in defence; opening of government trial and testing facilities for the private sector; increase in capital outlay for defence in Budget 2023-24 and launch of a Technology Development Fund and Innovations for Defence Excellence.

He said these reforms will enable Indian defence products to compete with established global defence and aerospace companies.

The Defence Minister stressed that indigenisation is the mantra for India today, unlike in the past when import was the default option. He also appreciated the growing enthusiasm and greater participation of private players in defence production and expressed confidence that the CEOs' Round Table will sow the seeds of successful new ventures and partnerships, boost investment, expand indigenous manufacturing and bolster the aerospace and defence ecosystem in India.

The Round Table organised on the sidelines of Aero India 2023 was structured around the theme Sky is not the limit: Opportunities beyond boundaries'.

The participating companies included Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Israel Aerospace Industries, General Atomics, Liebherr Group, Raytheon Technologies, Safran, General Authority of Military Industries, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited, BEML Limited, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Forge, Dynamatic Technologies and BrahMos Aerospace.

The platform aims to forge partnerships between domestic and global industries in the aerospace and defence sectors to address the present and future global needs and discuss the importance of supply chain strategy and operations as the world deals with the aftermath of the pandemic and global disruptions.

More than 75 companies, including 28 foreign OEMs from 15 countries, and DPSUs participated in the discussion.

Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari, Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Pande, and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane also attended the Round Table.