Despite this, India remains one of the major arms importers in the world; the need for imports is reportedly fueled by the danger presented by rival neighbours Pakistan and China.The government periodically releases positive indigenization lists in an effort to reduce imports by defence public sector enterprises (DPSUs). The Ministry of Defence on Sunday authorised the fourth such list.
It contains 928 strategically significant’ line replacement units, subsystems, spare parts and components with an import substitution value of Rs 715 crore. The DPSUs have been entrusted with developing these products locally and internally while employing the skills of MSMEs and other private participants in the market.
Purchasing from local suppliers is a positive move, provided that quality assurance and timeliness are given high priority. The awarding of contracts to contractors should also be done in the strictest of openness.
Building a strong environment for research and development should go hand in hand with the development of local industrial facilities. Finding out what the military’s current and future demands are is also essential so that the R&D and manufacturing capacity may be increased appropriately. It’s a case of how much is too much when it comes to imports. National security cannot be compromised in any way. What is important is the combat preparedness of our troops; they must immediately receive state-of-the-art gear and weapons.
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