Boeing-Lockheed Martins work with MSMEs
The Government aims to double the number of MSMEs to 16,000 in defence and aerospace sector in the next five years from 8,000 MSMEs as these are the backbone of the industry, Defence Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar has told an international conference held in Bengaluru.
Also, the Government has mandated that any procurement of up to Rs.100 crores will be reserved from Indian MSMEs, he said at the International Conference on Critical and Strategic Materials in Aerospace and Defence at Aero India held 3-5 Feb 2021. It was organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Defence and HLS Committee.
The MSMEs manufacturing capabilities are also being developed by Lockheed Martin under different programs with its Indian partner TATA, Wiliam Blair, VP & CEO, Lockheed Martin India, shared with the conference.
Boeing, being one of the global corporation, sources US$1 billion worth of items from different suppliers in India, 26% of which is from MSMEs, Ashwani Bhargava, Director-Supplier Management, Boeing India International told the conference.
He suggested solving the problem of producing raw material at controlled price and also being able to supply for Global requirements at controlled price and of desired quality.
But India needs to master the manufacturing technology in order to become self-reliant and “the Government is very serious about developing the capabilities for the materials within the country”, assured Dr. Satheesh Reddy, Chairman, DRDO.
Self-reliance is a major corner-stone on which the military capability of any nation rests, added PHDCCI President Sanjay Aggarwal.
Accordingly, the Defence Acquisition Policy promulgated by the Government, aims at achieving substantive self-reliance in the design, development and production of equipment, weapon systems, platforms required for defence in as early a time frame possible, creating conditions conducive for private industry to play an active role in this endeavor; enhancing potential of SMEs in indigenization and broadening the defence R&D base of the country.
“As far as the indigenization is concerned, we have to take the first steps first where we have the in-house capability to manufacture the materials, components and assemblies,” said Aggarwal.
Strategic materials are increasingly important to the development of a nation in general and its security in particular. He urged that a considerable part of the defence capex budget should be reserved for indigenous manufacturers.
M K Gupta, Chair, Defence & HLS Committee, PHD Chamber, had set the tone for the Conference by sharing the various issues on the critical and strategic material requirements by the Indian and the global OEMs.
He urged the Defence Ministry to take up the various issues such as the restriction in the use of indigenously developed materials in foreign designed defence equipment, certification of defence equipment manufactured with indigenously developed materials, lack of adequate testing facilities for critical materials for defence applications and other key issues. #manufacturing #investment #procurement #material /fiinews.com
