Defence exports in the country have gain 7-fold: Government

New Delhi: Defence exports in the country have grown seven-fold in the last two years from Rs 1,521.91 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 10,745.77 crore in 2018-19, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik in a written reply to MP Sambhaji Chhatrapati in Rajya Sabha said that various reforms and steps have been taken to enhance defence exports. These reforms have provided a big boost to defence exports in recent times.

The authorisation for defence exports in the country has grown seven-fold in the last two years from Rs 1,521.91 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 10,745.77 crore in 2018-19. In 2017-2018, defence exports were worth Rs 4,682.36 crore. In 2018-2019, they rose to Rs 10,745.77 crore and for 2019-2020 (as on December 31, 2019) it was Rs 5,883.24 crore. The minister said that the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has notified Department of Defence Production (DDP) as the licencing authority for export items in category six of Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET).

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the export of munitions items has been modified and placed on the website of the DDP.

A completely end-to-end online portal for receiving and processing authorisation permission has been developed. The applications submitted on this portal are digitally signed and the authorisation issued is also digitally signed.

In repeat orders of same product to the same entity, consultation process has been done away with and permission is issued immediately. For the repeat order of same product to different entity, the consultation earlier done with all stakeholders is now limited only with Ministry of External Affairs.

The legitimate export of the parts and components of small arms and body armour for civil use are now being permitted after prior consultation with Ministry of External Affairs.(IANS)

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