Make in India in Defence

Definition

The set of policies aimed at reducing India's dependence on imported weapons by building a domestic defence-manufacturing base, raising indigenous content, and increasing defence exports under the wider "Atmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India) goal.

Key points

• India has long been one of the world's largest arms importers, and the policy push since 2014 to 2020 seeks to shift towards "self-reliance" in defence production.
• Key instruments include positive indigenisation lists (lists of equipment that cannot be imported after notified dates so they must be made in India), a ring-fenced share of the capital procurement budget for domestic industry, and priority procurement categories under the Defence Acquisition Procedure.
• Foreign Direct Investment in defence has been liberalised, with up to 74 per cent allowed through the automatic route and higher levels permitted with government approval (verify the latest caps).
• Two Defence Industrial Corridors have been set up, in Uttar Pradesh and in Tamil Nadu, and the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board was corporatised into seven defence public-sector undertakings in 2021.
• The "iDEX" (Innovations for Defence Excellence) scheme funds start-ups and MSMEs to develop defence technology, and India has set rising defence-export targets.

Why it matters for CAPF

Defence indigenisation is a high-frequency current-affairs theme; FDI caps, the two corridors, the OFB corporatisation, and positive indigenisation lists are commonly asked.

Common confusion

Make in India in defence is the broad self-reliance policy; the Defence Acquisition Procedure is the specific procurement rulebook that operationalises it. Positive indigenisation lists ban import of listed items (they do not subsidise them).

Related concepts

concept defence acquisition procedure, concept agnipath scheme, concept blue water navy, concept chief of defence staff

Parent note

indian defence forces and modernisation