- The government plans to make India a major hub of defence manufacturing
- It plans to reduce dependence on imports and make India a net exporter of defence equipment and platforms
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has invited global defence majors to invest in India to set the target of exporting military equipment worth $5 billion by 2025. While addressing a seminar on “India Rising”, he said that the government is dedicated to make India a major hub of defence manufacturing and transform it into a $26 billion industry in the next six years.
He added that a $10 billion investment in aerospace and defence goods and services was expected by 2025 which would provide employment opportunities to two-three million people. He also said that a new policy for transfer of technology (ToT) is being formulated to simplify the process to transfer technology developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to the industry.
900 ToT licensing agreements
He mentioned that more than 900 ToT licensing agreements had been signed with industries so far. Singh also added that the defence sector was given prominence under the Make in India initiative as the aim is to reduce dependence on imports and make India a net exporter of defence equipment and platforms.