Pushing For Self-reliance Defence Ministry Identifies 509 Equipment; 4666 Items For Indigenisation

Tezpur, Jan 1 (KNN) The government is developing a strong base of domestic defence industrial ecosystem to make the country a strategic economy, said Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence, on Sunday.

"We issued five positive indigenisation lists, under which 509 defence equipment have been identified whose manufacturing will now be done indigenously,” he added.

Additionally, the minister stated, four positive indigenisation lists for Defence Public Sector Undertakings were issued, covering 4,666 items to be now manufactured within the country.

Speaking at the 21st Convocation of Tezpur University, Assam, Singh highlighted the Ministry of Defence's unprecedented efforts to attain self-reliance in the defence sector

Emphasising on the strategies executed by the Defence Ministry, Singh underscored a significant decrease in the import of arms, accompanied by a simultaneous surge in exports, as per an official release.

Underlining the achievements in domestic defence manufacturing, he quoted a production milestone, with figures crossing Rs 1 lakh crore for the first time.

"The total value of India's defence exports, which was Rs 1,521 crore in 2016-17, has increased almost 10 times to reach a record level of Rs 15,920 crore in 2022-23," he stated.

(KNN Bureau)