Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon Indian
industry and armed forces to develop own capabilities in defence manufacturing
and stop reliance on imports.
Speaking at the Aero India 2015 Exhibition, he said the
public sector defence undertakings should do much better and exploit their huge
asset base and manpower to develop defence equipment and technologies.
"We must develop a financing system suited to
the special needs of aerospace industry. It is a market where buyers are mainly
governments, the capital investments are large and the risks are high. We must
ensure that our tax system does not discriminate against domestic manufacture
in comparison to imports, Modi said.
More broadly, he said the country's defence industry
will succeed more if the manufacturing sector is transformed in India. The
country needs great infrastructure, sound business climate, clear investment
policies, ease of doing business, stable and predictable tax regime, and easy
access to inputs, he stated.
Above all, there is a need for vast pool of highly
skilled and qualified human resources for the defence industry, he said and
added that the aerospace industry alone would need about 200,000 people in
another ten years.
"We will set up special universities and skill
development centres to cater to our defence industry, just as we have done in
atomic energy and space. I have especially invited the State Governments to
come here with package of facilities to attract investments in defence
manufacturing" Modi added.
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