Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the just tabled Union Budget for year 2022 had laid down a blueprint for a self-reliant or ‘Atmanirbhar’ India in defence sector with focus being on research and development, involving domestic players in manufacturing equipment with ‘uniqueness and surprise elements.’

The Prime Minister’s remarks came during his post Budget webinar, fourth one in as many days. He said the stress on self-reliance in defence sector in recent years was ‘clearly visible in the Budget’.

“This year’s budget has a blueprint for developing a vibrant ecosystem from research, design and development to manufacturing within the country,” the Prime Minister said. He also pointed to increasing role of domestic sectors in defence equipment manufacturing in the country.

“Contract worth rupees 54 thousand crore have been signed for domestic procurement. Apart from this, procurement process for more than 4.5 lakh crore rupees worth of equipment is at various stages…Transparent, time-bound, pragmatic and fair systems of trial, testing and certification are essential to the growth of a vibrant defence industry,” Prime Minister Modi further said.

Beginning his webinar address, earlier, on ‘Aatmnirbharta in Defence – Call to Action’ organised by Ministry of Defence, the Prime Minister recalled that India’s defence manufacturing was quite strong even during the period of slavery and in the immediate aftermath of independence. Indian made weapons played a major role during the Second World War.

“Though, in the later years, this prowess of ours went into decline, still it shows that there has been no dearth of capabilities, neither then nor now”, he said. He stressed the importance of customization and uniqueness of the defence systems for having a surprise element over the adversaries. “Uniqueness and surprise elements can only happen when the equipment is developed in your own country”, he said.

This year’s budget, Modi said had  a blueprint for developing a vibrant ecosystem from research, design and development to manufacturing within the country. ‘About 70 percent of the defence budget has been kept for domestic industry only,’ he added.

The Prime Minister informed that Defence Ministry has, so far, released Positive Indigenization Lists of more than 200 defence Platforms and Equipment.

Prime Minister Modi lamented the long-drawn process of weapon procurement which often results in a scenario where weapons can get outdated by the time they are commissioned. “Solution for this is in ‘Aatmnirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’”, he emphasized.

He lauded the armed forces for taking decisions while keeping the importance of Aatmnirbharta in mind. He also stressed the need to keep the pride and feelings of the Jawans in the matters of weapons and equipment. ‘This is possible only when we are Aatmnirbhar in these areas,’ he said.

On the issue of cyber security he said cyber security is no longer confined to the digital world but has become a subject of national security. “The more we deploy our formidable IT power  in the defence sector, the more confident we will be regarding our security”, Modi said.

On corruption in Defence sector, the Prime Minister said competition among the defence manufacturers for contracts often led to money-focus and corruption. ‘A lot of confusion was created with regard to quality and desirability of weapons. Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan tackles this problem also’, he said.

The Prime minister lauded the ordinance factories for being a shining example of progress with determination. He  expressed happiness that 7 new defence undertaking that were incorporated last years are rapidly expanding their business and reaching new markets.

“We have increased defence exports 6 times in the last 5-6 years. Today we are providing Made in India Défence Equipment and Services to more than 75 countries,” he added.

Prime Minister Modi emphasized that as a result of the government’s encouragement to Make in India, more than 350 new industrial licenses have been issued for defence manufacturing in the last 7 years.

“Whereas in the fourteen years from 2001 to 2014, only 200 licenses were issued. The private sector should also come on par with DRDO and defence PSUs, hence 25 percent of defence R&D budget has been kept for Industry, Start-ups and Academia. Special Purpose Vehicle model has also been arranged in the budget. This will establish the role of the private industry as a partner beyond just a vendor or supplier”, Modi said.

The Prime Minister also stressed transparent, time-bound, pragmatic and fair systems of trial, testing and certification are essential to the growth of a vibrant defence industry. For this, an independent system can prove useful in solving problems, he added.

Exhorting the stakeholders to come forward with new ideas for timely implementation of the budget provisions, the Prime Minister asked them to take full advantage of the advancement of the budget date by one month in recent years and hit the ground running when date of budget implementation arrive.