GOING LOCAL AND EMBRACING NICHE TECH NECESSARY TO CAPITALIZE ON INDIGENOUS CAPABILITIES IN DEFENCE
~ Lt Gen Nav K Khanduri, VSM, AVSM, PVSM, GoC-in-C, Western Command
Chandigarh, 25 April 2023: In India’s endeavour to propel the Make in India initiative, the Government of India has opened up an array of opportunities for private sector participation to foster innovation and enable technological development in the Indian Defence ecosystem. To address the challenges facing the sector, a conference on Opportunities for MSMEs in the Defence Manufacturing Ecosystem in North India was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Northern Region and HQ Western Command, in association with DRDO, TBRL, Base Repair Depot of Air Force, and HQ Northern Command today.
“There is a need to focus on capacity building and skill development within the nation.
Adversaries, capacity and capabilities are the gaps that we have and given the kind of development happening at the northern borders there is an utmost need to develop a defence ecosystem in the North,” said Lt Gen Nav K Khanduri, VSM, AVSM, PVSM, GoC-in-C, Western Command.
Lt Gen Khanduri highlighted the critical challenges faced by the defence sector including the need for adequate funding in R&D; the lack of an ecosystem involving academia; the need for maintenance and sustenance of equipment; and quality assurance. One key solution, he shared, is to focus on high-tech and niche technologies while taking the help of local and indigenous manufacturers to capitalize on the capabilities of the Indian MSME sector.
“To make India self-reliant in defence manufacturing, bold initiatives have been undertaken in the defence sector. The northern states have been left behind and need to consider policy initiatives to boost the private sector in defence. The government is providing the required framework and it is for the MSMEs to understand the requirement of the defence equipment needed,” said Mr Vikram Sahgal, Chairman MSME Committee SIDM & MD, Micron Instruments Pvt Ltd.
Highlighting the need for an industrial corridor in Punjab that boosts academia-industry connect in the defence sector to actualise ideas in pipeline, Lt Gen KJ Singh (Retd), Former Army Commander, Western Command & Convenor, Gyan Setu said, “There is ample opportunity available in Punjab in terms of skill base, academia, and many success stories that can be encouraged to foster defence manufacturing.”
“We aim to build an Indian defence ecosystem of $26bn defence industry by 2025 with an export potential of $5bn. Our focus is on the indigenisation of the defence industry as our defence exports have grown around 300 per cent over the last 5 years. The challenge that the armed forces face is the ‘screwdriver’ concept of technology provision. This cannot be encouraged further if we want to indigenize the defence sector of the country and hence, we are working on creating a design to enhance indigenisation and industry has to align accordingly to further boost it,” said Maj Gen PK Saini, VSM, Principal Advisor, Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers.
“The time has come where we need to connect academia, industry and MSMEs for defence or for society as a whole. The higher education sector has a large role to play in it and it is the responsibility of all stakeholders involved to ensure that higher education is provided ample opportunity to contribute to all such initiatives,” said Prof Renu Vig, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University.
Suggesting some measures to boost MSME defence manufacturing, Mr Vivek Gupta, Chairman, CII Chandigarh shared, “Simplification and speeding up of the acquisition process and implementation of Quality Cum Cost Based Selection (QCBS) in Defence Acquisition are critically required for achieving success.”
The conference highlighted the need for capacity building and skill development within the nation, along with funding and capital infusion towards research and development, expansion, and development of the ecosystem along with academia, and continuous maintenance and sustenance of the equipment.
Post the inaugural session, a session on Creating a Robust Defense Manufacturing Ecosystem was also held which dwelled upon the MSMEs, technology providers, financial institutions, etc in the defence sector, particularly in northern India. The list of speakers included Mr Prateek Kishore, Outstanding Scientist & Director, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory; Maj Gen CS Mann, Head, Army Design Bureau; Group Captain Anand Karve, Chief of Planning, 3 BRD; Mr Ram Prakash, Scientist ‘E’/Additional Director, Directorate of Technology Development Fund; Prof HS Jattana, Former Scientist G, Indian Space Research Organization; Mr Harsh Vardhan Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Vinni Chemicals Pvt Ltd; Prof Arun Grover, Former Vice Chancellor, Panjab University; Mr Mayank Prasad, General Manager, Marketing, Promark Techsolutions Pvt Ltd; Lt Gen JP Singh, Former Deputy Chief of the Army Staff & Senior Advisor, DRDO.
An exhibition comprising defence equipment and the latest technology was also organised where premier institutions of the Region participated and showcased the latest technology including tactical gear, medical equipment, drones, and intelligence-gathering equipment.
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