MoD issues export wishlist to industry
This includes fighters, tanks, artillery, UAVs, small arms...

The Indian defence ministry’s Department of Defence Production has issued a list of weapons and equipment to industry bodies to boost exports by Indian defence industry, in pursuance of the Draft Defence Production Policy 2018, which lays down an export target of INR 35,000 crores (approximately USD 5 billion) in defence products and services by 2025.

The list of 51 items consists of a range of equipment and includes multi-role fighter aircraft, multi-purpose amphibian aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), light tanks, tactical vehicles, 155 mm self propelled howitzers, grenade launchers, mortars, sniper rifles, assault weapons, body armour, command and control systems and Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) equipment.

Industry lobby groups have been asked to circulate the list among their members, soliciting replies from companies as to whether they manufacture any of this equipment. Interestingly, this appears to be time sensitive, with replies requested to Thursday’s notification by the defence ministry next week.

A quick perusal of the list indicates a number of items that are known to be manufactured by Indian companies. Some items, however, are less obvious candidates for production by Indian companies. The defence ministry’s invitation is for, both, government-owned Public Sector Units (PSUs), as well as, private companies.

Indian offset partner companies are also invited to indicate their ability to supply parts and accessories for the export of the listed items. The defence ministry had issued a call for comments from various stakeholders to their Draft Amendments to the Defence Offset Guidelines that were supposed to have been submitted by Tuesday.

These draft modifications had proposed three categories of defence projects that would carry multipliers ranging from three to five, depending on the type of project and, in most cases, the location of the project.The draft also contemplates multipliers for equity investments in defence, aerospace and internal security enterprises, as well as, multipliers for investments in SEBI-regulated funds for defence, aerospace and internal security.

If these changes to defence offset regulations are approved, they will be available for retrospective application and any defence foreign manufacturer will be able to apply them to their existing offset liabilities, subject to government approval.

The Times of India reported last month the recall of 44 Indian defence attaches for briefings on promotion of exports and attendance at DefExpo 2018, held at Chennai.

India has long relied on arms imports and is usually among the top five arms importers in the world, if not the top importer, year-on-year, according to the the annual reports of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

India’s defence budget has been subject to criticism, lately, with parliamentary reports indicating an inability, for instance, of the army to buy enough ammunition for a ten-day conflict. Part of the problem is the inevitably increasing annual revenue expenditure on salaries and pensions for one of the most heavily manpower-reliant armies in the world. Another issue is the absence of domestic manufacturing of defence technology of acceptable specifications and quality, which has traditionally pushed the armed forces towards expensive imports. The question then arises whether products manufactured in India will be up to spec, quality and pricing, enough to be competitive in the international market, without prior buy-ins from the Indian armed forces.