Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday launched four products each by OFB and BEML, two by BEL and one each by HAL, BDL, MDL, GRSE and GSL, developed by respective DPSUs/ OFB as part of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ week celebrations which continues till tomorrow.
Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary Defence Production Raj Kumar and senior officers from DDP were present on the occasion. CMDs of DPSUs and Chairman, OFB participated in the event through video conference links. Addressing them, Singh said, “Self-reliance in defence manufacturing is one of the key objectives of the ‘Atma Nirbhar Abhiyan’.
He expressed confidence that the drive for “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” to realise the goal of self-reliance would give the necessary impetus to India’s defence production.
“The concerted efforts being put in by Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, to streamline the procurement procedures, production policies and indigenization initiatives would assuredly lead to the development and manufacture of indigenous defence products bringing down our dependence on imports thereby restricting outflow of Foreign exchange, encourage the development of domestic Industry, insulate India from external pressure and ensure lifetime spares and service support to the defence equipment,” he added.