Defence Industry

Budget is not just all about figures but also a statement of policy. The Defence Budget for 2017-18 contains no hint of any intention of the government to bring about a paradigm shift in the defence policy.

For more than half a century, independent India’s aircraft manufacturing has been dominated by, and entirely limited to, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The helicopter, in particular, was seen almost exclusively as a platform of military utility. Therefore, other than the defence forces, paramilitary and a few state governments, civilian use of helicopters was almost unheard of until recently. Commencing from the 1990s, awareness about the utility of helicopters for civilian use increased rapidly due to its widespread use by political parties during elections.

The BEML model of disinvestment needs to be applied to the rest of the Defence Public Sector Undertakings as well as Ordnance Factories.

Decommissioned Military Hardware can be gainfully be used as “gifts” in order to forge greater ties with recipient countries and potentially, make way for possible purchases of military hardware from India in the future.

The proposed blacklisting policy of the Ministry of Defence must be comprehensive enough to ensure that no loose ends are left to be tied at time of implementation.

India should ensure that the deal does not slip away because of GRSE’s perceived financial inability, which may not actually be the case.

As India embarks on a quest to boost its arms exports, the Latin America-Caribbean region offers India both markets and potential partnerships. Though India is not a stranger to the region, it needs to have a more systematic and coordinated approach.

Should GRSE and GSL deliver satisfactory services to their export customers, there is considerable potential for India to position itself as a competitive supplier of small and medium warships and patrol crafts.

It is rare that a foreign company makes a huge investment to produce major platforms in a third country with a view to make that country an export hub.

The United States, once the dominant influence over the armed forces of the region, is now in danger of losing that position to China and has already lost it in countries like Bolivia and Venezuela.