New Delhi, 8 Nov (KNN) General MM Naravane, Chief of the Army Staff highlighted the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and how it has given the much-needed national stimulus and a fresh lease of energy to inspire the revival of domestic industry.

Speaking at the webinar on ‘Indian Army Make Projects’ organised by the Indian Army and FICCI, Gen Naravane said that the Indian Army is fully committed to the indigenization efforts of our industry.

“We have the potential to redefine India into a global hub for manufacturers of defence equipment. Indian Army is undergoing rapid modernisation and is increasingly looking at indigenous solutions for its operational needs. Developing indigenous and local capabilities will reduce dependence on foreign technologies,” he said.

“The industry is already aware of the large and diverse inventory of the Indian Army. The technology, at least in a large number of systems, is simpler as compared to the other services and our sheer numbers make sound business sense,” he noted.

He further said that India has an expanding industrial base and most of our core requirements of defence equipment can be realised in house.

The Chief of Army Staff further said that the Indian Army will lead the efforts of to promote MAKE projects and with numerous enabling provisions by the government.

As on date Indian Army is participating in 36 make projects, including 15 projects that are suo moto proposals received from the industry.

Speaking at the event, Lt Gen Shantanu Dayal, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, DCOAS (CD&S), Indian Army reiterated the Indian Army’s commitment towards ‘Make in India’ with design and development projects with the industry being undoubtedly the preferred mode of acquisition.

“Be it development of niche technologies or indigenization of key equipment, the Make process afforded multiple advantages to both the Armed Forces as well as the industry,” added Dayal.

He said that in collaboration with the industry, the Indian Army aims to ensure great success of the Make category equipment in the country.

A booklet on ‘Army Make Projects 2021’ was released at the event that lists out the current progress of ongoing projects, new projects being launched along with allied information on the Make Process.

SP Shukla, Chair, FICCI Defence and Aerospace Committee and Group President (Defence, Aero, Agri and Steel); Member of the Group Executive Board, Mahindra Group said that the provision of Make category of capital acquisition in Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) is a vital pillar for realising the vision behind the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government.

It enables fostering indigenous capabilities through design & development by both public and private sector in a faster time frame.

The Indian Army unveiled six new ‘Make-II Projects’ during the course of the webinar.

The new projects span technologies across unmanned systems, technologies to counter such systems as well as emerging solutions for augmenting air defence capabilities.

Details of these projects were shared with the Indian Industry by the nodal officers and all queries of the industry on these new projects were deliberated in an interactive session.

The Army will work with the industry to evolve the development dimensions of each project.