The Defence Ministry said its “Atma Nirbhar” initiative will save foreign exchange to the tune of Rs 3,000 crores every year. This is the third such list released by the MoD over the last 16 months as part of the policy to reduce dependence on imports in the defence sector. India is one of the largest importers of arms globally.
The Defence Ministry on Wednesday announced a fresh list of 351 sub-systems and components that will not be allowed to be imported under a staggered timeline beginning December next year, a report in the Business Standard, says.
The ministry said its “Atma Nirbhar” initiative will save foreign exchange to the tune of Rs 3,000 crores every year. This is the third such list released by the MoD over the last 16 months as part of the policy to reduce dependence on imports in the defence sector. It comes as part of the government’s overall aim to make India a manufacturing hub for the manufacture of military equipment.
The ministry also released a list of 2,500 items that it said have already been “indigenised”.
“A positive indigenisation list of sub-systems/assemblies/sub-assemblies/components has been notified by the department of defence production, Ministry of Defence, as part of the efforts to achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing and minimise imports by defence public sector undertakings,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said “351 imported items” will be “indigenised” in the next three years.
The notification on Monday said “351 imported items” will be “indigenised” in the next three years. The import restrictions on the first set of 172 items will come into force from December next year and on another batch of 89 components by December 2023. The restrictions on another set of 90 items will come into effect by December 2024.
The ministry said the items mentioned in the list will only be procured from Indian industries as per the timelines indicated.
The items included laser warning sensor, high-pressure check valve, high-pressure globe valve, drainage intrusion detection systems, various types of cables, sockets and voltage control oscillator.
In August last year, the ministry announced that India will stop the import of 101 weapons and military platforms like transport aircraft, light combat helicopters, conventional submarines, cruise missiles and sonar systems by 2024.
A second list, putting import restrictions on 108 military weapons and systems such as next-generation corvettes, airborne early warning systems, tank engines and radars, was issued in May.
In the last few years, the government has taken a series of measures to boost domestic defence manufacturing.
India is one of the largest importers of arms globally. According to estimates, the Indian armed forces are projected to spend around USD 130 billion (one billion is equal to 100 crores) in capital procurement in the next five years.
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