Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has stated that the government would soon roll out a new strategic partnership policy and rope in private players to jointly manufacture defence equipments under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The Defense Minister announced that under the policy, Indian private sector companies would partner with with global armament companies to jointly manufacture fighter jets, helicopters, submarines, and armoured vehicles like tanks.
The Minister said the government would implement it as fast as possible and the model will coexist with the Defence Public Sector Units (DPSUs). The policy aims to kickstart capacity building in the private sector in the field of defence with the assurance that the government will be the buyer.
“Under the policy, one company will be selected as the ‘strategic partnership’ at a time in each of the four segments in ‘a transparent and competitive process’. The defence ministry will select the companies on the basis of adequate financial strength, demonstrable manufacturing and technical expertise, existing infrastructure and the ability to absorb technology from their foreign partners,” Jaitley said.