Citing the October 19 internal order from the defense ministry, news agency Reuters reported that in the future, “procurement of directly imported items shall not be undertaken.
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The order asserted that the matter had been discussed with the armed forces including the army, air force, and navy in May and July and was aimed at supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Vocal for Local’ call and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-Reliant India Campaign)
The order did not specify which products would be targeted. However, industry sources said they believed imported liquor could be on the list.
Imports make up around 6-7 per cent of total sales value in the defence shops, according to an August research column of the government-funded Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). Chinese products such as diapers, vacuum cleaners, handbags, and laptops, account for the bulk of it, it said.
According to an August research column of the government-funded Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), a ban on selling imported items will not affect the interests of consumers in any manner.
More significantly, most of the imported items sold by the CSD are luxury items, the use of most of which is limited to a few, since about 97 per cent of the consumers consist of personnel of other ranks and their family members. Moreover, almost all the imported items could be substituted by items made in India. In any case, those who are rigidly or otherwise attached to a particular foreign brand and cannot change their preference are free to access the outside commercial market to satisfy their needs.