The first Defexpo was held in 1999 with the objective of showcasing India’s industrial capability as the Defence sector was about to be opened up for Private enterprise. With opening of the sector, by act of parliament in 2001, Private enterprise was enabled to seek license for Defence manufacturing. This opening also allowed FDI in this sector for facilitating the flow of technologies into Private enterprise.
This was a time when the Defence Industry in India was dominated by the government and public sector and the private sector was still acting as tier 2 suppliers of components and to a lesser extent sub-systems with the exception of few like L&T having been partners to DRDO since the 1980s.
Come 2022 and we are waiting for the 12th edition of the DefExpo, that has over the years emerged as the largest Land and Naval show in Asian region. Over this period India’s went from being the 5th largest importer to become the largest importer of defence equipment and then in recent times, given the Make-in-India focus, shed that dubious distinction to be the second largest. Over the past few years India even joined the SIPRI list of 23rd largest exporter in the world with 20X export growth to >13000 Cr in FY 21-22. The attitude of the end-user, Indian armed forces and MoD, the players in the domestic industry and the attitude of global players towards the Indian Defence Industry have all undergone a radical transformation. The export story is encouraging to say the least. Though there is a long way to go, the potential is immense.
The push for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is not just a phrase on paper anymore. The three negative imports lists endorse the resolve, the DAP advocates it, the MoD enforces it and the Indian Defence Industry positively responds to it. India understands that enduring peace can be achieved by strength and true strength can only come from self-reliance. This has been further reinforced from learnings from the Ukraine example. In a world of volatile geopolitics, we need to be able to fulfil our needs for defence equipment, support and services through our own domestic industry so as not to be denied usage of our capabilities during times of strife. Our own past experience has made us wise to the necessity of building home-grown capability and capacity.
The last few years have demonstrated amply what the industry in India can deliver when they are given the opportunity to do so – warships, guns, submarines, bullet proof jackets, drones, missiles, fighters and combat helicopters – there are success stories galore. All these have been indigenously designed and developed and proven under the stringent qualification norms of the end-user. The domestic industry, both public and private sector, have also gone on to initiate export of defence equipment to friendly countries too.
With India’s confidence on own capabilities at an all-time high, we look at this DefExpo to provide a platform to truly showcase our competence and skills to the world. We are no longer looking at manufacturing low value components or sub-systems as part of offsets, we are looking for true technology partnership as we take on development of our own equipment, systems and platforms ourselves. We bring to the table advantages like an understanding of Indian fighting environment/ terrains and nuances of user requirements, which would help us deliver complete platforms like a K9 Vajra customised for Indian desert and deployable in High altitude locations. We are able to package hi-tech solutions into ever smaller packages to suit restricted spaces on a submarine. We are capable of delivering complex warships ahead of time. And we can do all this while retaining the edge in being cost-competitive and with impeccable in-built quality.
With indigenization on the focus, the primary role of Defexpo seems to be evolving from being a stage for foreign OEMs to showcase their wares to India (as the largest global importer of defence equipment), to being a platform for indigenous defence industry to display its capability and offerings and to serve as a showcase for export of defence equipment Made in India. Our MSMEs and start-ups significantly benefit from this as they get to interact with global OEMs and can convert the interactions into tangible business by becoming a part of their supply chain.
The Defexpo is a good opportunity for domestic majors to meet FOEMs to assess each other’s offerings in terms of capabilities and long-term appetite for big business opportunities in and beyond India and build stable partnerships. The economy of scale achieved by leveraging the export sales, benefits our end-user, resulting in cost competitive offerings and assured life time support.
The world is recognising that India is fast becoming a globally competitive defence design and manufacturing hub. OEMs who a few years back would not think of transferring real technology to India are now talking about ‘Make in India’ and leveraging the Indian competitiveness for Global markets. While on the path of Self-reliance, India is also welcoming FDI investment by welcoming FOEM investment in to India to be able to supply to India as well as for the World. Our position in ‘ease of doing business’ is today at an all-time high and indicator of India’s progressive outlook. Defexpo as the main defence event of the country needs to take centre stage in facilitating ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in the defence domain.
-The writer is an ex Indian Air Force Officer currently working as JGM – Unmanned Systems, L&T Defence. Views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
