India to ban import of 100 more weapons

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In a fresh push to atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence, India will on Thursday publish a new list of at least 100 weapons and systems that will come under an import ban over the next five years, officials familiar with the development said on Wednesday.

This will be the third ‘positive indigenisation list’ to be released by the government during the last two years, and will take combined number of weapons and systems under a phased import ban to more than 300.

“Orders worth more than ₹2,10,000 crore are likely to be placed with the industry in the next five years as part of the items covered in the third list,” the defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Defence minister Rajnath Singh will release the list of major equipment and platforms that are to be indigenised by December 2025.

“This represents a focused approach and an implementable plan to achieve atmanirbharta in defence, which will contribute to India’s strategic autonomy,” said former director general of military operations Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd).

The third list comes on the back of two similar lists of 101 and 108 weapons and systems released on August 21, 2020 and May 31, 2021 respectively.

“Since the notification of the first and second lists, contracts for 31 projects worth ₹53,839 crore have been signed by the armed forces. Acceptance of necessity (AoN) for 83 projects worth ₹1,77,258 crore has been accorded. In addition, cases worth ₹2,93,741 crore will be progressed in the next five to seven years,” the ministry said.

Under India’s defence procurement rules, AoN by the defence acquisition council is the first step towards buying military hardware.

The weapons and systems covered in the first two lists include artillery guns, missile destroyers, ship-borne cruise missiles, light combat aircraft, light transport aircraft, long-range land-attack cruise missiles, basic trainer aircraft, multi-barrel rocket launchers, assault rifles, sniper rifles, mini-UAVs, specified types of helicopters, next-generation corvettes, airborne early warning and Control (AEW&C) systems, tank engines and medium-range surface to air missile systems.

“The notification of the third list is a major initiative to achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing and shows the growing confidence of the government in the domestic industry that they can create and supply equipment of international standards to meet the demand of the armed forces,” the ministry said.

In February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said customisation and uniqueness of military hardware was critical to hold the advantage of surprise over India’s adversaries and that it could be achieved only if weapons and systems are developed in the country. (Hindustan Times)