Building upon the indigenisation drive for the Indian Army, Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General B S Raju pointed out that the government has decided not to import 400 products and would be manufactured locally. He also acknowledged the importance of the private sector in defence manufacturing while addressing the inaugural session of a Regional Technology Node (RTN-B) of the Army Design Bureau (ADB) at ASC Centre & College, Bengaluru.
According to Lieutenant General Raju, the “Indian Army is poised for modernisation in the next 10 years. When I say modernisation, I mean indigenous modernisation.” The Vice Chief of Army Staff emphasised the role of the private sector in defence manufacturing, “Indian Army has recognised the importance of the private sector in defence manufacturing. We want participation from the private sector.”
Lieutenant General Raju added that 25 percent of defence R&D budget is meant to go for local industry, “We will be transparent in our dealing. We will provide you the products and their required number to you to produce along with the deadline.”
The Indian Army’s ‘Make in India
According to the statement from ADB, the mandate is all about the engagement with Industry & Academia on development of various niche technologies for utilisation by Indian Army Soldiers.
The RTN-B will leverage the location of ASC Centre and College in Bengaluru to build an interface with trade, industry and academia with specific focus on IT, to coordinate advancements in technology for overall benefit of the Indian Army on behalf of ADB and HQ ARTRAC (Army Training Command).
ADB is working on the key projects that aim to ensure Army’s self-reliance in developing advanced capabilities. Some of the critical Projects on which ADB is working is in the area of Autonomous Surveillance and Armed Drone Swarm (High Altitude Area) and Autonomous Surveillance & Armed Drone Swarm (Desert/Plains).