Rajnath Singh exudes confidence in PM's 'Make in India' vision; highlights global reach

In sync with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said with collaborative efforts India will achieve 'Make for World' in the defence sector. Rajnath Singh had launched the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Saptah’ (self-reliant India week) on August 10.

Singh took part in the Defence Industry Outreach Webinar organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat was also a part of the webinar.

"I am confident that through our collaborative and cooperative efforts, we will not only achieve 'Make in India' but also 'Make for World'... We want to become self-reliant to contribute to the world in a better way. In this direction, some bold policy reforms have been taken like the ban on import of 101 defence items," Singh said.

Emphasizing on the ban on import of 101 defence items, he said that in the coming days it will result in approximately Rs 1.40 lakh crores of purchases domestically

"This list is just a start, in the coming days it will result in approximately Rs 1.40 lakh crores of purchases domestically. The Defence Ministry has also for the first time released a draft of Defence Production and Export Promotion policy 2020," he added.

According to Singh, the policy will work on "greater visibility" for upcoming opportunities so that the industries will get the demands of Armed Forces. He also asserted that the budget for procurement will be increased by 15 per cent per year.
year.

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MoD bans import of 101 items

The Ministry of Defence has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them. This decision will offer a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed & developed by DRDO to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces.

MoD has bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year. The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024. 

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Rajnath Singh Launches Mobile App For Online Training Of NCC Cadets

Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh launched the Directorate General National Cadet Corps (DGNCC) Mobile Training App that will assist in conducting countrywide online training of NCC cadets.

The training of NCC cadets has been adversely affected during the Coronavirus-induced lockdown. Since schools or colleges are not likely to open in the near future, training of NCC cadets will be conducted using the digital medium. The Defence Minister interacted with the NCC cadets via video conferencing during the launch of the App and also answered their questions.

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(With Inputs from PTI)