The government on Tuesday has invited Swedish firms to invest in ‘Defence Corridors’ in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, saying that they can benefit from the unique incentives being offered by the State governments and the availability of a highly-skilled workforce in India.
Stressing that there is a huge potential for India-Sweden partnerships, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Indian defence industry has strong capabilities in various fields and is showing willingness to collaborate with Swedish companies for co-development and co-production in areas of mutual interest.
“Swedish firms already have a major presence in India. Indian industry can also supply components to Swedish industries. Technology-centric FDI policy will enable Indian industries to collaborate with Swedish companies in the field of niche and proven military technologies,” Singh said at a webinar.
The webinar on India-Sweden Defence Industry Cooperation, with the theme ‘Capitalising Opportunities for Growth and Security’ was organised by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence through Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and Swedish Security and Defence Industry (SOFF).
Singh said India has a vast defence industrial base with 41 ordnance factories, nine defence public sector undertakings and expanding private sector Industries supported by an ecosystem of over 12,000 MSMEs. He added that Indian Defence Industries possess expertise on a wide range of high-tech defence systems for air, land, sea and space applications.
“India has a robust shipbuilding industry. The ships constructed here are of global standards and extremely cost effective. India and Sweden can collaborate in the shipbuilding industry for mutual benefit,” he said.
On the occasion, an MoU was also signed between SIDM and SOFF to promote bilateral defence industrial relations wherein a dedicated joint working group will be formed to take forward mutual objectives.