Swedish partnerships sought
In a bid to deepen Indo-Swedish defence and aerospace cooperation, the Indian Government has urged Swedish companies to forge large scale partnerships with Indian manufacturers and reap the ‘early bird’ advantages from the amended defence procurement rules.
The policy gives priority to indigenously designed, developed and manufactured defence equipment.
To take the process forward, Feeration of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in collaboration with SOFF and Swedish embassy, organized the
Speaking at the India-Sweden Defence & Aerospace Industry seminar in New Delhi on August 31, 2016, Sanjay Garg, Joint Secretary (DIP), Ministry of Defence, said that the Government, on its part, in the last two years has approved 85% of the capital acquisition proposals under the new category called Buy Indian – Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) and Buy and Make (I).
He said that the time was ripe for Swedish companies to find the right partner from the Indian defence manufacturing industry.
Josa Karre, Charge’ d’Affaires, Embassy of Sweden, in her remarks, pointed out that both Sweden and India have a strong industry base and India had now become an attractive place for investors, adding that “We have the expertise and know-how in the defence and aerospace sector to support your success.”
Ambassador Anders Bengtcen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden, said that there was tremendous scope for collaboration between Swedish and Indian companies in aviation, maritime security and combat training and simulation for army personnel. “Swedish companies are here for a long haul and this was possible because of the trust and reliability that they enjoy,” he added.
The seminar was told that the policy framework had been streamlined and was extremely supportive of building strong partnerships between Swedish and Indian companies. fii-news.com
