(a) whether the Government is proposing to empower select private sector companies for production of weapons;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether sufficient checks and balances have been incorporated to ensure total transparency in the process;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) if not, the action taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE (DR. SUBHASH BHAMRE)
IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
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(a) to (e): The Defence Production Policy, promulgated by the Government, aims at achieving substantive self-reliance in the design, development and production of equipment, weapon systems, platforms required for defence in as early a time frame as possible.
In view of the aforesaid policy and the ‘Make in India’ initiative, several policy measures have been taken by the Government as mentioned below:
(i) Preference to indigenous procurement;
(ii) Industrial licensing: After opening up of the Defence Industry Sector for private sector participation in 2001, 239 Indian Companies have been issued 394 Industrial Licenses for manufacture of licensable defence items till October 2018.
(iii) ‘Make’ Procedure has been revised to promote indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment/ platform required by the Armed Forces with a view to achieve self-reliance.
(iv) The Policy on strategic Partnerships intended to institutionalise a transparent, objective and functional mechanism to encourage broader participation of the private sector was promulgated as Chapter VII of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)-2016 w.e.f. 31st May, 2017.
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