PM Modi Inaugurates 10th Edition Of Defence Expo In Chennai
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the ‘Make in India’ pavilion addressing the 10th edition of DEFEXPO at the historic sight of MAHABALIPURAM in Tamilnadu. It is the biggest show of international land, naval and internal homeland security systems in Asia and brings about 40 nations and over 670 firms, including 154 foreign manufacturers across the globe to showcase the strength of their military hardware and weaponry in India. India is the largest arms importer in the world and Indian defence industry is expected to order USD 300 billion worth of defence equipment, adding the necessary stealth and capability to the readiness against the all-around security threats. A day earlier on 11 April, Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman launched the DEF EXPO 2018 and announced that this year DEFEXPO would foreground India as a manufacturer of defence products, and, bring forth the country’s export potential.
PM Modi said in address, “More than forty countries have sent their official delegations as well. It is an opportunity like none other, not only to discuss India’s defence requirements, but also to showcase, for the first time ever, in such a manner, India’s own defence manufacturing capabilities to the world.”
Today, we live in an interconnected world. The efficiency of supply chains is a key factor in any manufacturing enterprise. Therefore, the strategic imperative to Make in India, to Make for India, and to Supply to the World from India is stronger than ever before PM elaborates on his vision.
Defence Ministry’s new draft policy envisions the ambitious target of achieving Rs 1.70,000 crore by strengthening and the ecosystem of domestic defence manufactures and procuring from them by 2025. A Technology Perspective and Capability Road-map has been released to help the industry in planning and initiating technology development, partnerships and production arrangements, PM adds in an attempt to streamline and encourage the Indian defence industry, including a thrust on MSMEs and other private manufactures.
PM Modi announced the launch of the ‘Innovation for Defence Excellence’ scheme. “It will set up Defence Innovation Hubs throughout the country to provide necessary incubation and infrastructure support to the start-ups in defence area,” he said in his inauguration speech. In the context of research and innovation in the Indian defence sector, Defence Research and Developing Organization (DRDO) is the sole contributor to the overall research environment by and large and there is a massive gap in the institutional collaborations and almost non- existence private funding. DRDO has proved commendable capacity in developing indigenously first long-range sub-sonic cruise missile Nirbhay, Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos besides the induction of Embraer-145 aircraft in IAF which is fully designed and developed Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) system in 2017 among others. But a more integrated approach is imperative to raise the bar and diversity in the research and development. And, it equally required within the Army to nurture and develop advanced expertise in the field of weapon design and technology, calibrating with the recently formed Army design Bureau (ADB).
Sighting the lack of integrated defence manufacturing hub, PM Modi announced the initiation of two defence corridors - one in Tamil Nadu and one in Uttar Pradesh. He said, “We committed to establishing two Defence Industrial Corridors. These defence industrial corridors will utilize the existing defence manufacturing ecosystems in these regions, and further, build upon it”. These corridors will become the engines of economic development and growth of defence industrial base in the country, he said during the speech. Further to facilitate the participation and ease of access, Government also announced a Defence Investors Cell to assist and handhold the investors involved in Defence Production.
Interestingly, during the Press Conference in a day earlier with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BW Businessworld raised a question about the status of futuristic technology and advance research like Robotics, Drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in DRDO’s labs, she sought to answer later which was answered by PM Modi another day in his speech.
“New and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Robotics are perhaps the most important determinants/ of defensive and offensive capabilities for any defence force in the future. India, with its leadership in Information Technology domain, would strive to use this technology tilt to its advantage," he said.
“There was a time when the critical issue of defence preparedness was hampered by policy paralysis. We have seen the damage such laziness, incompetence or perhaps some hidden motives, can cause to the nation. Not now. Not anymore. Never again. Issues that should have been long addressed by previous governments, are being resolved now”, Modi emphasized while ending in his trademark eloquence.
