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Make in India - Aerospace & Defence - II

February 27, 2019 | Expert Insights

The Synergia Foundation organized its 48th roundtable on the topic Make in India - Aerospace & Defence -II with Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, Technical, NITI Aayog and former Secretary of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and SA to RM and Dr. Ajay Kumar, IAS, Secretary in Department of Defence Production, Government of India.

Background

The objective of the roundtable was to provide a conceptual framework to actualise the ‘Make in India’  programme by better understanding the underlying challenges especially in the acquisition of strategic technologies. 

The event was attended by experts who shared their insights on various challenges faced by democratic institutions all over the world. Some of the attendees include Ambassador P.S. Raghavan, Lt. General Saha, M. V. Gowtamma, K. D. Nayak, Dr. Girish Deodhare, Dr. Tessy Thomas, Dr. Kiran Kumar, Rangarajan, Gopi Hanumanthappa, Udayan Malhotra, Arunakar Misra, Dr. Suresh Deshpande, Chris Rao, Capt. Subbarao Prabhala, K. P. M. Das, Dr. Sanjay Burman and Arun Ramchandani.

Analysis

The objective of the roundtable was to provide a conceptual framework to actualise the ‘Make in India’ programme by better understanding the underlying challenges, especially in the acquisition of strategic technologies.

The Aerospace & Defence Industry in India is vital for the country. With a strength of over 1.3 million active personnel, it is the world’s 3rd largest military force. The lack of a healthy domestic industrial base means that the Indian military relies on imports, thus earning the dubious distinction of being the world’s largest arms importer.

Today, nearly 70% of all aircraft flown in India have engines and components made by global companies. In order to fuel growth in the Indian Aerospace Industry, it might be wise to partner with foreign original equipment manufacturers who have a long term commitment to the Indian market. It’s important to note that business is a primary driver for technology to be transferred.

While modernising India’s ageing military equipment is essential, decision-makers need to realise that building capable, technologically competitive armed forces are more than just purchasing or developing modern technology.

There are several successful examples available around the world of emerging economies building a robust defence industrial complex. China, for instance, has gone from being a weapons importer to an exporter in a matter of a few decades. China’s defence imports reduced by 25% between 2011-15 and exports grew by 88%.

Despite several attempts, India has not been able to build a military-industrial complex comparable to Brazil’s or even Turkey’s. But now that the economic environment in which our industry operates is very different from the one until a decade or so ago, how can India build a sustainable model of A&D manufacturing in India? How can the country enforce and incentivize Transfer of Technology from global suppliers? How can we spur the development of local industry?

Turkey was a prominent example cited by many experts as a model for the development of a robust domestic manufacturing sector. When an arms embargo was imposed on Ankara in 1974, following its invasion of Cyprus, Turkey decided to build its own national defence industry. Over the decades since, Turkey has emerged as the 12th largest arms exporter in the world.

The stellar set of experts gathered for the roundtable offered the next-step solutions in building India’s A&D model of tomorrow. The problems and challenges are well known, and the solutions presented were simple in nature but comprehensive in their reach. The experts drew examples from their own businesses and regions where they having been operating successfully for decades. The roundtable format offered every speaker the freedom of an academic discussion on a professional platform.

Assessment

Our assessment is that there was a need to balance the armed forces’ immediate need for high-tech equipment and the long-term objective of building an indigenous capability to reduce arms imports. We believe that the ‘Make in India’ program is boosting domestic capabilities, including the encouragement of defence start-ups. We also feel that we should integrate our capabilities across defence organisations and private sectors in order to become self-reliant in defence design and production.