Do you have any kind of technical collaborations or partnerships with international companies? Tell us about the same.
We are proud of the fact that our technology is indigenous and the result of the hard work and dedication of our team of engineers in India and Germany. In MKU we do not have any partnerships with international companies for the manufacture of protection solutions. We do have a 100 percent owned subsidiary in Germany.
The Government has recently further opened up the defence manufacturing sector for foreign players. How do you think it will impact the industry?
This is a welcome move from the government. The increase of FDI in defence from 26 percent to 49 percent will help bring in foreign capital by way of private equity and immediately help small and medium sized companies, which are not yet public. This would make more funds available in the Indian defence market, which is a relatively new sector.
What are the different challenges faced by the defence manufacturing sector in India? What more can the government do to improve the situation?
Among several issues being faced by this important and critical sector, there is an urgent need to streamline the procurement process. Currently, there is lack of clarity in the RFPs which are issued, leading to scrapping or withdrawal of RFPs after the process has moved for a year or two leading to losses for the companies participating and the services not getting the desired equipment.
The government should interact more with vendors and look towards making the procurement process faster. Rather than the current policy of accumulating requirements for several years, the government should come up with yearly or half-yearly procurement plans. This will create multiple options for procurement as well as regularity of supplies.
India's defence industrial policy needs to be in line with the objective to boost defence exports. The government has to follow a proactive and favourable defence export policy and by leveraging the offset policy suitably.
The government support for promoting Indian made products has to extend to the concept of "Indian Pavilions" at International trade shows. There needs to be a mix of Public and Private companies. The focus should also be on advances made in technological development and remove the image of India being only a component manufacturer.
The private manufacturers need to be provided a level playing field with the DPSUs in order to encourage advances in technological development as these require investment of time and money. The current policy of development on "No cost no commitment" basis also needs to be re-evaluated to encourage more participation. There should be well defined timelines for decision making.
The government should look to incentivise exports. Another way to support indigenous industry will be the path of co-production and co-development with international OEMs and Government Labs.
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