Vice-Admiral Karambir Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command on Thursday said MSME sector would be benefited due the Indian Navy’s efforts to achieve self-reliance.
He was speaking at a seminar conducted jointly by Confederation of Indian Industry, Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers and A.P. Economic Development Board on opportunities in defence and aerospace for the industry.
Stating that Navy had been nurturing shipbuilding since 1960s, he said at present 32 ships and submarines and several light combat aircraft had been ordered for construction.
As shipbuilding ancillary industry largely consisted of MSMEs, they had a big role to play in indigenisation programme of the defence forces. Fifty one of 91 contracts worth ₹57,000 crore had been awarded to domestic vendors.
R&D efforts
Admitting that they were dependent on imports for high-end components required for the defence industry, he said R&D efforts should be stepped up to improve technology. He referred to the ‘Make in India’ campaign and declared Navy’s full support to encourage domestic industry in getting orders from them.
Explaining the Navy’s expectation, Vice-Admiral Singh said quality was of utmost importance as they could not afford to compromise on this aspect. “Any chinks in the armoury will be exploited ruthlessly by the enemy,” he said.
Transfer of technologies
He observed that seeking protectionism would be self-defeating in the long run for the domestic industry and called for developing cutting-edge technologies and encouraging collaborative efforts for transfer of technologies.
Vice-Admiral Singh said the Navy was not only the platform and that technologies operated in six dimensions such as air, sea, underwater, land, cyber and space. “This opens up a host of the opportunities for the industry. He reiterated that Navy’s roadmap for the future would remain anchored firmly on self-reliance and indigenisation.
Lt. Gen. Subrata Saha (retired), Director General of SIDM said they were working closely with the government towards enabling the growth of the defence industry.