Govt wants to make India one of the top five countries in defence and aerospace industries: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi [India], October 7 (ANI): The government wants to make India one of the top five countries of the world in defence and aerospace industries, from design to production, with the active participation of public and private sector, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday.
The Defence Minister made these remarks while interacting with the Ambassadors of several countries during the virtual round table on Aero India 2021.
Singh said India remains committed to peace and stability across the world. The country is also committed to the belief that self-reliance and indigenous defence capabilities are the foundations to enduring peace, he added. India wants to fulfil the objective of self-reliance as well as the demand of other friendly countries, according to Singh.
"We are one of the few countries in the world which produce a fourth-generation fighter aircraft, nuclear submarine, main battle tank and inter-continental ballistic missiles. Our technological prowess in information technology has received international recognition," he added.
He said that Aero India provides an ideal platform for businesses, decision-makers and policymakers to interact to address common concerns and contribute to global defence and aerospace ecosystem and position India as a defence manufacturing hub.
"'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' or self-reliant India was the centrepiece of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address. As part of this scheme, FDI limit in defence manufacturing under automatic route has been increased from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. Secondly, we have announced import embargo list for 101 items. It provides a great opportunity for our friendly nations to collaborate in design and development with our private industry as well as invest in them," he said.
The defence minister said that it has been the endeavour of Indian Government to constantly undertake policy initiatives to attract investments in Defence and Aerospace Industry.
"The latest being the 'Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) - 2020' wherein we have undertaken several measures to boost domestic Defence industry. You will be happy to observe that DAP 2020 has adequately included provisions to encourage FDI to establish manufacturing hubs," he said. (ANI)