Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the post Budget webinar on Defence sector, in New Delhi on February 25, 2022. (Photo/PIB)
New Delhi: Aatmnirbharta in Defence sector is clearly visible in the Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on February 25, 2022.
He was addressing a post budget webinar titled ‘Aatmnirbharta in Defence – Call to Action’ on the announcements made in the budget.
The Webinar was organized by the Ministry of Defence. This was the fourth webinar in the series of the post-budget webinars addressed by the Prime Minister.
“The recent years’ effort to strengthen Aatmnirbharta in the defence sector is clearly visible in this year’s Budget. India’s defence manufacturing was quite strong even during the period of slavery and in the immediate aftermath of independence. Indian made weapons played a major role during the Second World War. Though, in the later years, this prowess of ours went into decline, still it shows that there has been no dearth of capabilities, neither then nor now,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister stressed the importance of customization and uniqueness of the defence systems for having a surprise element over the adversaries.
This year’s budget, the Prime Minister mentioned, has a blueprint for developing a vibrant ecosystem from research, design and development to manufacturing within the country.
About 70 percent of the defence budget has been kept for domestic industry only, he added.
The defence Ministry has, so far, released Positive Indigenization Lists of more than 200 defence Platforms and Equipments. After this announcement, the Prime Minister informed, contract worth rupees 54 thousand crore have been signed for domestic procurement. Apart from this, the Prime Minister continued, procurement process of more than 4.5 lakh crore rupees worth of equipment is at various stages. Third list is expected soon, he said.
The Prime Minister lamented the long-drawn process of weapon procurement which often results in a scenario where weapons can get outdated by the time they are commissioned.
“Solution for this is in ‘Aatmnirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’,” he emphasized.
The Prime Minister lauded the armed forces for taking decisions while keeping the importance of Aatmnirbharta in mind.
The Prime Minister noted that cyber security is no longer confined to the digital world but has become a subject of national security.
PM Modi also said that Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan tackles the problem of corruption in defence procurement.
“Seven new defence undertaking that were incorporated last years are rapidly expanding their business and reaching new markets.More than 350 new industrial licenses have been issued for defence manufacturing in the last 7 years,” PM Modi said.
He called for transparent, time-bound, pragmatic and fair systems of trial, testing and certification for the growth of a vibrant defence industry.
The Prime Minister exhorted the stakeholders to come forward with new ideas for timely implementation of the budget provisions. (Press Release)
