Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) is committed to the indigenous manufacture of defence equipment, said M V Gowtama, Chairman and Managing Director, BEL. Gowtama, addressing the ‘Opportunities for Industry in Defence’ meet organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) at the BEL Campus, said BEL sources over 60 per cent of materials from Indian industry.
“BEL today has 1,280 SMEs in its approved vendor directory and the outsourcing from SMEs is about 30 per cent,” he added. The opportunity in the Indian defence sector is enormous and technology plays a major role in this sector. “Industry needs continuous investment in improving their products to stay ahead and remain competitive,” CMD said to The Hindu Business Line.
The English daily reported that several defence PSUs are attaining double-digit growth in India and private industry can grow much faster than this. Lt Gen Subrata Saha, (Retd), Director-General, SIDM, said by 2025, India will be a $5-trillion economy. To protect such an economy, the country needs strong armed forces and for our forces to be strong and sustainable, we need to ensure that we indigenise as soon as possible.
For the fifth year running, India is the largest arms importer in the world, making the country over-reliant on foreign powers. He called on all stakeholders to come together to build the defence sector in the country.
