Indian Defence Minister Stresses On Improving Border Infrastructure

The Indian defence minister Manohar Parrikar has said that the country needs partnership between the public and private enterprise to build a vibrant defence industrial base and this would mean that the defence industry will become self-reliant. The minister was addressing delegates at a FICCI conference where Parrikar said that the government is looking at greater outsourcing by defence PSU’s.

The minister said that as a country we should be very concerned about our security and as a country we should ensure that defence demand are met in-house by indigenous manufacturing. He also said that the ministry of defence has all the control and is a single buyer and so it should not shift goal posts and give pragmatic requirement which the domestic industry will be able to meet.

The minister said that when ‘Make in India’ was proposed the matter of defence manufacturing was one of the key priorities and with public and private partnership India will be able to form a formidable defence manufacturing base in the country.

The minister stressed on the fact that by outsourcing manufacturing of defence products, it will not only be cost-effective but all also increase competitiveness and this will be beneficial for both the manufacturer and the defence ministry.