India driving ahead to be a net exporter of defence equipment in due course

by Sanath Nanayakkare

The government of India has taken several policy initiatives to become self-reliant in defence equipment manufacturing and a net exporter of same in the not too distant future.India’s states and union territories are encouraging private companies to invest in the field by offering them investment subsidies and by creating a level playing field for private-sector players with sophisticated technologies and R&D capacities to enter the domain.

In this context, Haryana Airports Development Corporation has already started work to position Haryana as a pre-eminent airport and investment destination facilitating balanced regional and sustainable development where private-sector led investments will be lured to involve more actively in manufacturing arms and ammunition among other industries.

The focus of the Indian government on indigenisation and procurement of defence products from the domestic resources is targeted at minimizing expenditure on defence procurement from foreign sources, a visiting Sri Lankan media delegation learned recently.

Under the liberalised economic policies of the Central government of India and the industrial and investment policy of Haryana (North Indian state surrounding New Delhi on three sides), the private-sector will get more opportunities to invest and build defence equipment manufacturing plants and Aerospace and Defence parks in the State of Haryana, they learned.

Commander Mahendra Singh, a retired naval officer speaking to the journalists about the Integrated Aviation Hub (IAH) in Hisar district in the state of Haryana said that India has embarked on a journey of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25, and the Indian Aviation and Aerospace and Defence industries have an extremely important role to play in achieving this aim of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The Indian aviation market has recorded a growth rate of more than 10% in the past fifteen years, which indicates strong potential in commercial flying, air cargo, in-flight services and other ancillary sectors. The State of Haryana is already a part of India’s vision of developing a strong and self- reliant aviation sector. The IAH will facilitate unprecedented connectivity to both the domestic and international airports and will fortify Haryana’s position as an aviation leader in the country. The existing runway length of 4000 ft. is being extended to 10,000ft to facilitate the large aircraft movements for commercial flow of passengers and cargo operations,” he said.

“The IAH is envisioned as a growth hub with industrial and commercial related development work with the establishment of Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) adjacent to the upcoming airport, also creating an ecosystem to promote the sector on the back of the progressive Aerospace and Defence Policy,” he said.

“When you take Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport as the centre point. On the East side, Jewar Airport is coming up which is at an advanced stage. And on the West you see Hisar Airport coming up. So, Delhi being a congested place, these two airports in due course when aviation is expanding, will share the load of Delhi, be it cargo or be it passenger traffic. The excess load will be diverted to these two places East and West of Delhi.

Referring to the upcoming manufacturing cluster he said,”India is trying to become self-sufficient in its defence requirements vs. defence purchases. And we want to be an exporter of defence equipment in due course. The government has realized that this is a sector which needs boost and that’s why Aerospace and Defence policy has been given priority by the government of India. We not only want to make defence equipment for ourselves, we want to export as well. This is the reason why every state of India has given prime importance to Aerospace and Defence sector. This is one sector which has the potential to grow at a fast rate vis-a-vis the rest of the sectors such as steel, automobile, textile, footwear and accessories which have already grown exponentially,” he said.

Total Traffic at Hisar Airport is expected to be 2.1 million pax in FY 24 and 3.6 million by FY 2030. Total cargo at the airport is estimated at 20k MT in FY 2024 and is expected to grow each year.

Notably, the Aerospace and Defence sector investors will get easy access to land, incentivised R&D facilities, reduced burden on upfront capital and incentives on Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO) activities, electricity duty exemption etc.

Six Sri Lankan journalists had the opportunity to see India’s vision to develop Hisar as a global integrated aviation hub with the ongoing construction of infrastructure and the meticulous creation of the anticipated growth hub. The tour was sponsored by StratNewsGlobal.com and BharatShakti.in at the request of the Sri Lanka High Commission in India.