The central government has identified 85 countries to promote the sale of Made-in-India defence equipment with the ambitious target of achieving Rs 35,000 crore worth of military exports by 2025 in sight.
English daily The Times of India has given all the support defence attaches across the world to showcase the Indian prowess in defence manufacturing. According to the plan, these attaches will be provided with a yearly budget up to $50,000 each to promote the made-in-India defence products. Interestingly, the attaches have been asked to explore the sale opportunities for both private and public sectors by participating in exhibitions, conducting market studies, organising seminars and distributing publicity material.
In 2018, India has called up all its defence attaches to deliberate on the ways to encourage sales of military products. Multiple meetings were held between these attaches and arms industry representatives and officials from the defence and external affairs ministries. The funds these activities is expected to be released by the end of this week one the defence attaches across the world submit the detailed roadmap and action plan for promotion activities.
The centre has categorised the countries as per the possibility of the exports; the countries having the highest possibility of exports have been placed under category A for which the defence attaches will be getting $50,000 annually. Similarly, the categories B and C countries will be getting the lower allocation basis the possibility of exports. The centre has set aside a fund of Rs. 16 crore for the initial stage.
In a statement on the export promotion scheme, the Ministry of Defence said, "The scheme will play a catalytic role in addressing interventions required for exploring new markets and promoting export-oriented activities by defence attaches in the countries to which they are attached."
Vietnam, Thailand, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, UAE and Malaysia are few countries which have the maximum potential of buying Indian manufactured equipment. Importantly, the western countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are also on the list which already has a developed defence industry due to the ever-growing subsystem manufacturers in India.
The MoD further added "India is emerging as a manufacturing hub for defence production and Defence Production Policy 2018 envisages an export target of Rs 35,000 crore by 2025. Defence attaches' deputed across the world, therefore, play a pivotal role in showcasing India's capabilities in defence product manufacturing and promoting export of defence products."
