Mita Nath
(mitanathbora7@gmail.com)
Nation-building, along with creating large economic assets, industrialization, development of roads, bridges and metros, schools and hospitals, includes building strong defence assets. Strengthening the armed forces, who keep the territorial boundary and integrity of the nation safe from external threats and internal strife, is of utmost importance. A nation that invests strategically in its defence forces, infrastructure and equipment become a powerful nation that can withstand any external and internal forces.
History is witness to the fact that whenever a nation has neglected its armed forces and their capacity, external powers have been quick to exploit it. India had learnt this important lesson in the 1950s when its security apparatus drifted through the 1962 Chinese attack.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014, defence reforms have been to bring about greater cohesion, modernization of the armed forces through policy changes, innovation, digital transformation and most importantly defence self-reliance (aatmanirbharta). Our PM's farsightedness and vision of our defence preparedness is reflected when he says that in today's world when it comes to war having a unique defence weapon is of utmost importance. Uniqueness & surprise elements are the keys to overcoming any threat. Bringing forth the reality that if all the countries have the same kind of weapons, the uniqueness of the defence forces gets hampered. And both uniqueness and surprise elements can be ensured when the weapons are being developed in the country itself. Besides, when the country brings weapons from outside, its process is unduly long and become outdated by the time they reach security forces. Hence, the Make in India initiative and defence self-reliance is the only way forward. Our PM has well reminded that during British colonisation and WWII, arms were manufactured in India and they played a major role, reflecting that India has the capability.
India for the last 7 years has been making a continuous effort to create a self-reliant Make in India indigenous ecosystem for the development of defence equipment in the country. More than 350 new industrial licenses have been issued for defence manufacturing in the last seven years, 7 new Defence Public Undertakings have been created, contracts of around Rs 54 thousand crores have been signed for domestic procurement of equipment worth more than Rs 4.5 lakh crore. Adopting a transparent, time-bound, pragmatic, and fair system of trial, testing, and certification for the vibrant defence industry.
Today, India is among the top five countries with the highest military spending in 2019. India has the second-largest standing army in the world. The value of defence exports in 2020-21 is INR 5711 cr. And India's military ranks as the 4th most powerful as highlighted in the recently released Global Firepower (GFP) annual defence review of 140 countries.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently stated that to meet the requirements of the changing technology, there is a constant effort to equip our armed forces with the latest weapons to meet challenges emanating from the land, air and sea; and by bringing about jointness and modernization through reforms.
Defence Budget 2022-2023
The Union Budget 2022 has seen an allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore to our defence budget, a 9.8% increase from last year's budget of Rs 4.78 lakh crore. Some of the Key Features aimed at strengthening our defence forces are - A whopping 68% of the outlay for defence procurement is set aside for buying from domestic industry. In 2021-22, it was 58%.
25% of the allocation is earmarked for defence research and development (R&D), for collaboration with industry, startups and academia. Private industry is being encouraged to take up the design and development of military platforms and equipment in collaboration with DRDO and other organizations through SPV (special purpose vehicle) model.
Rs1,52,369 crore is allocated for capital expenditure that includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.
The capital outlay is an increase of around 10% compared to the revised estimate of Rs 1,38,850 crore for 2021-22.
An allocation of Rs 2,33,000cr has been made for revenue expenditure that includes expenses on payment of salaries and maintenance of establishments, according to the budget documents.
For the Ministry of Defence (Civil), the government has set aside Rs 20,100 crore.
Under the capital outlay, the Army has been given Rs 32,015 crore.
The Indian navy has been allocated Rs 47,590 crore under capital outlay as against last year's budgetary outlay of Rs 33,253 crore.
The Indian Air Force has been allocated a total of Rs 55,586 crore as the capital outlay as against last year's Rs 53,214 crore.
An amount of Rs 1.19 lakh crore is included for Defence Pensions.
Progress of work after the budget announcement in February 2022
1st February 2022: Union Budget 2022-23 was announced that Defence R&D will be opened up for industry, startups and academia with 25 per cent of the defence R&D budget earmarked.
5th February 2022: UPEIDA has signed 62 MoUs with private/ public industries to develop the UP Defence Industrial Corridor, worth potential investments of approx. INR 8,638 crore.
9th February 2022: Atal Tunnel officially recognized as 'Longest Highway Tunnel above 10,000 feet' by World Book of Records.
23rd February 2022: DRDO and IIT Delhi scientists demonstrate Quantum Key Distribution between two cities 100 km apart.
24th February 2022: MoD signs a contract worth Rs 1075 crore with M/s BEL for the supply of 957 Commander Thermal Imager cum Day Sights for T-90 Tanks.
The defence budget saw a strong emphasis on the growth and development of indigenous capabilities in the aerospace and defence sector (A&D sector). The major focus area is on procurement of weapons and military platforms from domestic manufacturers, aimed at reducing imports and promoting self-reliance in equipment for the armed forces. The government makes a huge move and has paved the way for domestic industry to rise to the occasion and break the cycle of India's disproportionate dependence on foreign players to meet the operational needs of our armed forces.
A very relevant precursor to the successively expanding domestic procurement budget is the 'positive list' of items banned for defence imports, released by the Ministry of Defence in three iterations so far, and now spanning approximately 3,000 items. Important items placed on the lists, for which imports are banned starting December 2020 and December 2021, include light combat helicopters, the short-range surface to air missiles, cruise missiles, rockets and rocket launchers, radar warning systems, transport aircraft, armoured fighting vehicles, conventional submarines and various kinds of firearms and their ammunition.
The armed forces have already received in-principle approval for procurement of infantry combat vehicles ($3.5 billion), Arjun tanks ($1.1 billion), ALH Mark III helicopters ($515 million), terminally guided munitions ($165 million), anti-tank guided missile systems ($205 million), tactical communication systems ($490 million), software-defined radio ($43 million), light radars ($290 million), countermeasure systems ($700 million), ammunition of various kinds (over $800 million), among others.
Indian private players likely to benefit from these procurements include the Tata group, Mahindra Defence, Kalyani group, Larson and Tubro, Adani Aerospace & Defence, VEM Technologies, Tara Systems and Technologies, SEC Industries, Cyient, Alpha Design, Astra Microwave Products, Sigma Electro Systems, Economic Explosives, MKU, SSS Defence and Indo-MIM. Ideation related government initiatives, such as Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) awards administered through the Defence Innovation Organization, Defence India Startup Challenge and licensing of DRDO patents to the private sector, will boost the support of the Indian private sector needs to achieve Atmanirbharta in the A&D sector.