India Focusing On 'Aatmanirbharta' In Defence Sector, Budget 2022 Shows This Commitment: PM Modi
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be presiding over the valedictory session of the webinar titled 'Aatmanirbharta in Defence - Call to Action'.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India has been focusing on 'aatmanirbharta' (self-reliance) in its defence sector in the last few years and the Union Budget 2022 shows this commitment.
PM Modi addressed a webinar titled 'Aatmanirbharta in Defence - Call to Action' where he highlighted the role of Budget 2022-23 in contributing towards India's self-reliance in the defence sector.
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"In the last few years, India has been focusing on 'aatmanirbharta' in its defence sector. You can see the commitment for it in this year's budget too": PM Modi said in the post-budget webinar, as quoted by news agency ANI.
He recalled that India had a high defence manufacturing strength even during British rule and right after independence.
"In WWII, arms manufactured in India played a major role. However, in the following years, this strength weakened. But this shows that India never had a dearth of capabilities," he mentioned.
Talking about the Aatmanirbhar Campaign, PM Modi said that when India imports weapons from other countries, the process for it is so long that many of them become outdated by the time they reach the security forces. "The solution is in the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' and 'Make in India'," he added.
"The main principle of security is that you should have your own customised and unique system. If 10 countries have the same type of defence equipment, your defence forces would have no uniqueness. Uniqueness and surprise element possible only when equipment develops in your own country," he stressed.
It is a source of happiness that in the last five-six years, India has increased defence exports by six times, PM Modi said.
Budget 2022 Has Blueprint For Developing Vibrant Ecosystem For Defence Manufacturing: PM Modi
The Prime Minister further stated that "this year's budget has a blueprint for developing a vibrant ecosystem from research, design and development to manufacturing within the country. About 70% of the defence budget has been earmarked just for the domestic industry."
PM Modi mentioned that Defence Ministry has issued an indigenisation list of over 200 defence platforms and equipment so far. After the announcement of this list, contracts of around Rs 54,000 crores have been signed for domestic procurement.
Besides this, the procurement process related to equipment worth more than Rs 4.5 lakh crores is in different stages. The third list is going to be released soon, he stated.
Talking about the 'Make In India' Campaign, the Prime Minister highlighted that "as a result of the government's boost to Make in India, more than 350 new industrial licenses have been issued for defence manufacturing in the last seven years." "In the 14 years from 2001 to 2014, only 200 licences were issued," he added.
He stressed that transparent, time-bound, pragmatic and fair systems of trial, testing and certification are essential to the growth of a vibrant defense industry.
For this, an independent system can prove to be useful, PM Modi stated.
Earlier, the Prime Minister also participated in similar webinars held for the Education, Rural Development and Agriculture sectors. The webinars focus on the successful implementation of Budget 2022-23.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be presiding over the valedictory session of this webinar.
(With Agency Inputs)
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