India
oi-Deepika S
The Defence Ministry on Sunday announced a fresh list of 928 military items, including line replacement units, sub-systems and spares, that will come under a phased import ban between December 2023 and December 2029, in its latest push for self-reliance in the manufacturing sector.
The aim of the indigenisation list is to minimise imports by the defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs).
The defence ministry has set specific timelines for import ban of the items, spanning the period from December 2023 to December 2028.
This list is in continuation to the three similar PILs that were brought out in December 2021, March 2022 and August 2022.
“This fourth list is in continuation to the previous three PILs involving LRUs, Sub-systems, Assemblies, Sub-assemblies, Spares & Components which were published in December 2021, March 2022 and August 2022 respectively,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
“These lists contain 2,500 items which are already indigenised and 1,238 (351+107+780) items which will be indigenised within the given timelines. Of 1,238, 310 items (1st PIL – 262, 2nd PIL – 11, 3rd PIL – 37) have been indigenised, so far,” it added.
“The DPSUs will undertake indigenisation of these items through different routes under ‘Make’ category and in-house development through the capabilities of MSMEs and private Indian industry, thereby providing impetus to the growth in economy, enhanced investment in defence and reduction in import dependence of DPSUs,” it added.
“In addition, this will augment the design capabilities of the domestic defence industry by involving academia and research institutions,” the statement said.
The ministry said DPSUs will soon initiate procurement action for these notified items.
In the last few years, the government has taken a series of measures to promote the domestic defence production.
India is one of the largest importers of arms globally.
According to estimates, Indian armed forces are projected to spend around USD 130 billion in capital procurement over the next five years.
The government now wants to reduce dependence on imported military platforms and has decided to support domestic defence manufacturing.
