The maiden two day Brainstorming session, ‘Impetus to Indigenisation’, organised under the aegis of the Department of Military Affairs by HQ Integrated Defence Staff in collaboration with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers concluded on March 05, 2024. The event resulted in extremely productive outcomes with takeaways for policy reform aimed at accelerating the indigenisation process and enhancing private sector participation in the Indian Defence Manufacturing Sector.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan in his address underscored the ongoing transformative process in defence reforms. He highlighted the need for collaborative efforts for a ‘Whole of Nation’ approach between the government, services, R&D and defence production ecosystem towards fostering innovation in India’s journey of achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing and production in sync with India’s ‘Vision 2047’.

In the keynote address during the inaugural session, Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane emphasised the government's commitment towards promoting indigenisation through private sector participation in the defence sector.

The Brainstorming Session, chaired by Gen Anil Chauhan, saw active participation of key stakeholders from MoD, DMA, Service HQs, Indian Coast Guard, DRDO, Dept of Defence Production, DGQA, Academia, Industry Partners and field units of tri-services. 

All participants engaged in consultative discussions on various aspects of indigenisation, including evolving way ahead to address policy level challenges, ways and means of providing impetus to indigenisation with focus on sustenance, Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) issues effecting Aviation, Maritime and Land Assets. The outcome-based discussions focused on identifying key areas for development of indigenous technologies and products and reduction of our dependence on imports towards enhancing product availability and ensure high operational readiness of the Armed Force.

The key highlights of the first day sessions were private sector participation in Defence R&D, enhancing effectiveness of Make, iDEX, Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) and Technology Development Fund (TDF) schemes, ways to incentivising private sector participation in defence manufacturing, providing level playing field to private sector, development & management of Defence Industry Corridors, capacity mapping of all defence manufactures across the country, incentivising MSMEs, PPP/GOCO models and IPRs. The second day witnessed Services & ICG brining out their MRO requirements in future and inviting the private industry to participate to fulfil their requirements.