“The defence sector has emerged as a major demand creator and orders worth over $100 billion are expected in the next 5-10 years,” said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during the Naval Commanders’ Conference.
Rajnath Singh was reviewing the operational capabilities of the Indian navy during the Naval Commanders’ Conference held aboard India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant on March 06.
In his address to the Commanders, the defence minister lauded the Navy for standing firm and protecting national interests with courage and dedication.
“Future conflicts will be unpredictable. The constantly-evolving world order has forced everyone to re-strategise. Constant vigil on the Northern & Western borders as well as the entire coastline must be maintained. We need to be ready to deal with all future challenges,” he said.
Emphasising that economic prosperity and security scenario go hand-in-hand, he pointed out that the defence sector has emerged as a major demand creator, which has been boosting the economy and ensuring the country’s development.
Defence economy
“In the next 5-10 years, orders worth over $100 billion are expected to be placed through the defence sector and it will become a major partner in the economic development of the country. Today, our defence sector is on the runway, soon when it takes off, it will transform the country’s economy. If we want to see India among the top economic powers of the world by the end of ‘Amrit Kaal’, we need to take bold steps towards becoming a defence superpower,” the defence minister said.
The defence minister also highlighted the credible presence of the Indian navy in the Indian Ocean Region, “…that Mission-Based Deployments of the navy have strengthened India’s position as a ‘Preferred Security Partner’ of friendly foreign countries in the region.”
He termed the recent announcement of earmarking record 75% of the defence capital procurement budget for domestic industry in 2023-24 as a testament to the government’s firm commitment to achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
The government, in the last three years, has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to 163 proposals worth Rs 2,46,989.38 crores, under various categories of Capital procurement.
According to the data from the MoD, domestic procurement stood at 54 percent of the total procurement in 2018-19. The figure jumped to 59 percent in 2019-20 and to 64 percent in 2020-21. In 2022, it has been increased to 68 percent for domestic procurement.
On the commissioning of INS Vikrant, he stated that it further reinforced the belief that India’s Naval design and development is at a promising stage and more progress will be made in the times to come.
The operational demonstrations included aircraft carrier and fleet operations, weapon firings by ships & aircraft and underway replenishment at Sea.