MSMEs in defence: Enumerating the steps taken for MSMEs in the defence sector, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Thursday, said the government has reserved 75 per cent of the defence capital acquisition budget for purchases from local companies, which will strengthen MSMEs. The 75 per cent reservation amounts to around Rs 1 lakh crore, Singh said inaugurating the three-day India Manufacturing Show in Bengaluru jointly organised by Laghu Udhyog Bharti & IMS Foundation and supported by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence.
“We are the first government which imposed restrictions on itself for the import of weapons. We released five positive indigenisation lists, under which 509 equipment have been identified, the manufacturing of which will now take place in India. In addition, four positive indigenisation lists for Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) were also promulgated, under which 4,666 items were identified, that will be manufactured within the country,” the minister said.
He also referred to the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative, which was launched to invite new ideas in defence manufacturing from startups with projects requiring support beyond Rs 1.5 crore up to Rs 10 crore.
In the monsoon session of the parliament this year, Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State for Defence, told the Lok Sabha that More than 30,000 defence items by defence public sector units (DPSUs) and services on the Srijan portal have been offered to the industry including MSMEs to become partners in the indigenisation process.
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The Ministry of Defence, which is among the largest buyers of products from MSMEs, nearly doubled its online procurement of goods and services from MSMEs and other sellers in the financial year 2022-23 from the previous fiscal via the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) marketplace. The ministry made purchases worth Rs 28,732.9 crore in FY23, up by 90.4 per cent from Rs 15,090.8 crore worth of goods and services bought in FY22, according to GeM data.