Aero India’s new mantra: ‘Make in India’
Defence Ministry working on roadmap to boost indigenous defence product
By : amit s. upadhye
Update: 2014-12-01 07:41 GMT
Bengaluru: The countdown for Asia’s prestigious air show, Aero India has begun and this time the organisers have decided to work towards making Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan, Make in India, a reality. For the 10th edition of Aero India, to be held from February 18 to 22 at Air Force Station Yelahanka, the Defence Ministry has already begun working on the roadmap to give a boost to indigenous defence production.
“Aero India 2015 will provide a significant platform in business opportunities for domestic players. The union government is giving a boost for defence production locally, and upcoming Aero India will be first such defence expo wherein private players from India will be called to join the production,” said a senior defence ministry official.
Some defence analysts, however, feel this drive to indigenize defence production may not make much headway unless top private sector companies are roped in.
“Unless you bring Reliance and Tata into defence production, the defence majors in US and European Union will not take India’s indigenization drive seriously. Transfer of technology is all matters and unless the foreign firms are sure about the participation of larger players ‘Make in India’ may mere remain a mere slogan,” said a defence expert.
Taking a dig at the defence PSUs, the expert said that the Light Combat Aircraft programme had missed all its deadlines and the cost escalation was enormous. “Expect for IAF, other two forces are not happy with DRDO or HAL. Delay in delivery is a major concern for the armed forces and Indian PSUs have not worked as per their expectations. Several IAF officials too are worried about the delay in delivering the LCA. There are still issues running between the Aeronautical Development Agency and HAL which is taking us nowhere,” the expert lamented.