Defence Ministry to introduce import embargo on 101 items
“This decision will offer a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry,’ the Defence Minister said
By IAR Desk
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday stated that India is now ready for the big push to the atma nirbhar or self-dependent initiative announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The Ministry of Defence is now ready for a big push to #AtmanirbharBharat initiative. MoD will introduce import embargo on 101 items beyond given timeline to boost indigenisation of defence production,” the minister said in a tweet.
In a series of tweets stating that “Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi has given a clarion call for a self-reliant India based on the five pillars, i.e., Economy, Infrastructure, System, Demography & Demand and announced a special economic package for Self-Reliant India named ‘Atamnirbhar Bharat’.”
Keeping in line with the prime minister’s initiative the defence ministry has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them.“This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence ,” he tweeted.
“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,” Singh was quoted as saying by a report in the Hindustan Times.
The defence ministry has prepared the list of 101 items after consultations with all stakeholders, which included the armed forces, public and private industry.
In a further tweet Singh mentioned that “Almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the Tri-Services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020. It is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next 6 to 7 years.”
“The list of 101 embargoed items comprises of not just simple parts but also some high technology weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircrafts, LCHs, radars and many other items to fulfil the needs of our Defence Services.”
Hindustan Times report said that Singh clearly mentioned that the embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024. A statement was cited in the report further stating that “Our aim is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation.”
