Aatmanirbhar in Defence Production

Aatmanirbhar in Defence Production

India ranks fourth among the 12 countries in the Indo-Pacific in terms of its ability to produce weaponry independently, according to new research.

Details about the study by SIPRI:

• The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published the findings
• SIPRI is a well-known independent source for information on international security.

Countries:

• The study's 12 participants were chosen because they had the largest military expenditures in the region.
• The following countries are included: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Results: China is at the top of the list, followed by Japan, South Korea, and Pakistan.
• China: From 2016 to 20, China's imports of weapons ranked seventh worldwide.
• India is the world's second-largest importer of weapons for its armed services between 2016 and 20.
• Major foreign arm imports from other countries, including several that were made under license or as parts for home production, are extremely important to India.
• 84 percent of India's total volume of purchases from 2016 to 20 were made outside of the country.
• Less than 16 percent of its entire procurement comes from domestic armaments industry.
• The biggest Indian arms servicing firms include Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Indian Ordnance Factories, Bharat Electronics, Mazagaon Docks, and Cochin Shipyard.
• One of the biggest truck suppliers to the Indian Army, Ashok Leyland, is the sole business ranked in the top 50 in the Indo-Pacific.

Indicators:

• Three self-reliance indicators for each nation are used in the study, which measures self-reliance through the year 2020:
• Arms procurement: The government's overall purchases of significant conventional arms divided by imports, licenced domestic manufacture, and domestic production;
• Industry of arms: Where data are available, the study ranks the top five arms manufacturers in each nation by the amount of military hardware it will sell domestically and abroad in 2020;
• Unmanned maritime vehicles, or drones on the sea:
• Covering both unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), this report aims to provide a qualitative understanding of how countries engage domestic research institutes and firms to develop such cutting-edge systems.

Aatmanirbhar in defence production

• Make-I Category:
• About: The 'Make' Category of the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 aims to achieve self-reliance through increased participation of Indian industry.
• This category includes projects involving the design and development of equipment, systems, major platforms, or upgrades to them by the industry.
• Financial Assistance: The Ministry of Defence will cover up to 70% of the total cost of prototype development.
• Category: Make-II
• It is supported by industry through guaranteed procurement. The following platform has been identified:
• Anti-jamming Systems for a Variety of Platforms
• iDEX: Projects of Start-ups, MSMEs, and others involving high-end innovation would be pursued under the iDEX category, and the following platform - Low Orbit Pseudo Satellites - has been selected under this category v.

The study's importance:

• The study chose the maritime domain because the Indo-Pacific region is a "maritime theatre," and the majority of its flashpoints involve navies.
• Understanding and determining the extent of self-reliance in the Indo-Pacific region, which has several ongoing flashpoints, is critical for trust and confidence-building among states, according to the study.
• This region has also seen an increase in state spending on defence procurement.
• In 2020, eighteen regional arms manufacturers were ranked among the world's largest arms manufacturers.
• China's ranking: The Chinese arms industry is dominated by nine large state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
• China is also working on projects with universities and other organisations to develop "long-range precision, intelligent, stealthy, or unmanned weaponry and equipment."

India's situation:

• According to the study, India's significant arms sales and high level of licensed production propel it to fourth place on the list.

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