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Speaking at the 98th FICCI Annual General Meeting and Conference in New Delhi, Singh said, “Our defense cooperation with Russia has gone through good and bad times. We are not going to stop defense cooperation with Russia.”
He further said, “India adheres to strategic autonomy, we also need equipment from the US.” He said that purchases worth more than $30 billion have been made from America.
The official also said that the intention is to ensure that production and designing of defense equipment is done within India. Rs 1.33 lakh crore has been spent this year, of which about 88% was from domestic suppliers.
Rajesh Singh said, “Large global purchases will be the exception rather than the norm. Rare cases will include imports like the C295, in the past the bulk of our licensed production has been from Russian OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).”
“With the Americans, we have been largely dependent on imports, having taken engines from GE Aerospace. With the French and the Russians, there is a possibility of joint production,” he said.
The Secretary further said that foreign OEMs will have to get used to the fact that they will have to co-produce here as most of the money will be spent within India.
Delay in budget allocation and procurement
The Defense Secretary further said that the Defense Ministry will demand a 20 percent increase in the budget allocation from the Finance Ministry in the upcoming budget.
“We are getting a 10% increase in the modernization budget every year,” he said. We will ask for a 20% increase this time and keep it at that level for the next few years.” He said such budget allocation will help meet the demands of India’s defense needs.
On the delay in procurement, Singh said, “My job is to ensure that contracts are signed on time.” “Contracts worth ₹2 lakh crore were signed in the last financial year.”
“The current round of emergency procurement aims to set a one-year deadline for delivery of contracts or foreclosure. We will cancel the contracts of those who do not deliver within the deadline,” he said.
India’s defense export targets
Singh also highlighted that India aims to increase defense exports in the next few years.
“Overall domestic production is dominated by the public sector. However, 60% of exports are made by the private sector, and it aims to There will be exports worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2030,” he said.
He said discussions are underway with Vietnam and Indonesia for export of BrahMos missiles, following its verification during Operation Sindoor.