"Our defence manufacturing sector is imaginative, innovative...": Rajnath Singh at 'North Tech Symposium 2023'

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 12 (ANI): Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the defence manufacturing sector of our country is imaginative, innovative, dynamic, and progressive.
Speaking at the 'North Tech Symposium 2023' organised by the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) at IIT Jammu, Rajnath Singh said," The defence manufacturing sector of the country is imaginative, innovative, dynamic, and progressive. I realized this after watching the exhibition here."
Rajnath Singh further claimed that the defence exports will reach the target of Rs 20,000 crores in the upcoming days.
"In the last financial year, our domestic defence production record has crossed Rs 1 lakh crores and the defence export record has crossed Rs 16,000 crores. Very soon, I will be able to say that our export has reached Rs 20,000 crores," he said. 
He also mentioned that there is a need to link the work of institutions like IIT, and IIMs to the defence sector. 
"We have many institutes like IITs, IIMs, and IISCs. All these institutions work in the field of R&D at their own level, but we need to link their work with the defense sector. By doing this we will be able to develop an R&D culture in our defense sector," he said. 
Rajnath Singh also mentioned that earlier there were complaints in the previous governments about the corruption in defence procurement. 
"There have been complaints of corruption and favouritism in defence procurement since the time of independence. You must have heard the saying that one dirty fish makes the whole pond dirty. Due to corruption and malpractices of such people, people started losing faith in institutions, which cannot be tolerated at all in a democratic country," he said. 
Earlier today Defence Minister Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone of Nyoma Airfield in Eastern Ladakh virtually and said that one of the world’s highest airfields will boost the air infrastructure and would prove to be a game-changer for the Armed Forces. (ANI)