At the maiden two-day brainstorming session on indigenisation in the defence sector, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan called for collaborative efforts amongst all stakeholders for a ‘Whole of Nation’ approach in the defence production ecosystem.
”There is a need for coordination amongst the government, services and R&D institutions for fostering innovation in India’s journey of achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing and production in sync with India’s ‘Vision 2047’,” he said at the event that resulted in extremely productive outcomes with takeaways for policy reforms aimed at accelerating the indigenisation process and enhancing private sector participation in the Indian defence manufacturing sector.
In his keynote address during the inaugural session, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane emphasised the government’s commitment towards promoting indigenisation through private sector participation in the defence sector.
The brainstorming session, chaired by Gen Chauhan, saw the active participation of key stakeholders from the MoD, DMA, Service HQs, Indian Coast Guard, DRDO, Dept of Defence Production, DGQA, Academia, Industry Partners and field units of tri-services.
All participants engaged in consultative discussions on various aspects of indigenisation, including evolving way ahead to address policy-level challenges, ways and means of providing impetus to indigenisation with a focus on sustenance, Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) issues affecting Aviation, Maritime and Land Assets.
The outcome-based discussions focused on identifying key areas for the development of indigenous technologies and products and the reduction of our dependence on imports towards enhancing product availability and ensuring high operational readiness of the armed forces.