Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that many trade restrictions and tariff wars, the dangers of overreliance on foreign components and logistics networks and the drawbacks of the ‘Just in Time approach’ have become visible.
Singh, who was addressing an event at Manekshaw Centre, said the government’s aim was to prepare the force for the future.
In his address to senior Defence officers and representatives of private companies involved in defence manufacturing, he said that until a few years ago, defence companies around the world were dependent on globalised and complex supply chains for their manufacturing, which were scattered across many countries.
However, their product deliveries were on time, which people call the ‘Just-in-Time delivery’ model. That is, despite being complex, this model worked because the situation was globally stable.
“But in recent years, the global scenario has changed, and due to many trade restrictions and tariff wars, the dangers of overreliance on these foreign components and logistics networks and the drawbacks of the Just in Time approach are becoming visible. The world’s defence sector is moving towards the ‘Just-in-Case’ delivery model instead of ‘Just-in-Time’, in the Just-In-Case model, backup plans (such as Plan B and C) are also being prepared for manufacturing. This includes keeping stock of essential goods, creating more inventory and manufacturing important goods nearby,” he said.
“Our approach to strengthening India in the defence sector is to believe in India’s potential. However, the approach of the previous governments was somewhat doubtful about India’s potential and capability. They probably did not believe in India’s capability as much as our government does. And to promote self-reliance in the defence industrial sector was our biggest achievement, ” he added.
Singh said that even in that old system, the ordnance factories were working well, but in view of the new times and the new needs, we corporatised the Ordnance factories so that they could become more technology-friendly, produce more output, and increase their accountability.
As a result, Ordnance Factories are working very well in their new form and have become profit-making units instead of loss-making entities, he added.
“Our very clear target is to strengthen the hands of our startups and MSMEs. For this, the Ministry of Defence has approved purchases worth more than Rs 2400 crore from startups/MSMEs, and projects worth more than Rs 1500 crore have been approved for the development of new technology,” the Defence Minister said.
Aero engine manufacturing is still a challenge, but they have made great progress under the Kaveri engine project. They are in talks with several companies (like Safran, General Electric (GE), and Rolls Royce to develop the capability of manufacturing aero engines in India. This also includes ToT with GE to make engines for the Tejas fighter plane. Work is also underway to develop engines for fifth-generation fighter jets, he said.
India is now making a name for itself in shipbuilding as well. Indigenous aircraft carriers like INS Vikrant and more than 90 warships are built with their own design and manufacturing capabilities. More than 97 per cent of the warships of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard are now being built in Indian shipyards. Ships built by India are also being exported to friendly countries like Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and the Maldives, he said. (ANI)
