India bans import of 101 defence items to boost indigenization
In a major announcement on Sunday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has banned the import of 101 defence items including artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircraft, light combat helicopters (LCHs), radars and many more. The idea behind the import ban is to make the Indian defence sector self-reliant and boost indigenisation with a view to working on the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan movement as was espoused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The embargo on imports will be implemented between 2020 and 2025 ensuring that contracts worth Rs four lakh crore will come to the domestic industry. Of these, items worth almost Rs 1.3 lakh crore each are anticipated for the army and the air force while items worth almost Rs 1.4 lakh crore are anticipated for the navy. Singh said, “The Ministry of Defence is now ready for a big push to the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. MoD will introduce an import embargo on 101 items beyond the given timeline to boost indigenisation