Reforms undertaken in defence sector attracting foreign original equipment manufacturers to India: Rajnath Singh

Washington DC [US], August 24 (ANI): The progressive reforms undertaken by India have encouraged foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to establish their presence in the country, defence Minister Rajnath Singh said during an interaction with the senior leadership of US defence companies on Saturday.

He said that OEMs from the US and other countries are setting up manufacturing units in India, developing Joint Ventures, and also making India their alternative export base.

During an industry round-table organised by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, he outlined the various emerging co-development and co-production opportunities in the defence sector in India.

The planned co-production of GE 414 aero-engines in India shall be a significant milestone in India-US bilateral relations, Singh said during the interaction.

The Defence Minister also highlighted that ‘Partnership’ and ‘Joint Efforts’ are the two keywords that differentiate India’s defence industry partnership with other nations.

The event saw the attendance of senior leadership from prominent US defence and technology companies such as Boeing, GE, General Atomics, General Dynamics Land Systems, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Rolls Royce, and ThayerMahan.

In addition, a few Indian companies such as ideaForge, Tata Sons and Tsecond, along with senior leaders from The Cohen Group attended the interaction with the Raksha Mantri.

During the interaction, the business leaders briefly outlined their ongoing projects and future plans for India and provided valuable feedback.

The Indian government is working towards achieving Aatmanirbharta” in the defence sector through a multi-pronged approach.

Ministry of Defence has achieved the highest-ever growth in indigenous defence production in value terms during Financial Year (FY) 2023-24, on the back of the successful implementation of the policies and initiatives of the Government.

As per the data received from all Defence Public Sector undertakings (DPSUs), other PSUs manufacturing defence items and private companies, the value of defence production in the country has gone up to a record-high figure i.e., Rs 1,26,887 crore, reflecting a growth of 16.7 per cent over the defence production of the previous financial year. The value of defence production in FY 2022-23 was Rs 1,08,684 crore.

Of the total value of production (VoP) in 2023-24, about 79.2 per cent has been contributed by DPSUs and other PSUs and 20.8 per cent by the private sector. The data shows that in terms of absolute value, both DPSUs and PSUs and the private sector have recorded a steady growth in defence production.

In addition, the defence exports touched a record-high of Rs 21,083 crore in the financial year 2023-24, reflecting a growth of 32.5 per cent over the last fiscal when the figure was Rs 15,920 crore.