PM bats for indigenous manufacturing in defence sector, discourages import

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Cyber security is no longer limited to just the digital world as it has now become a matter of national security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

He also noted that the process of importing defence items is so long that by the time they reach our security forces, many of them have become outdated and therefore, the solution is to go for indigenous manufacturing.

"Even during the period of slavery and immediately after Independence, the strength of our defence manufacturing was very high. Weapons made in India played a big role in World War II," he said in his address at the Defence Ministry's post-budget webinar.

Although this strength of ours kept on weakening in later years, it shows that there was no shortage of capacity in India then and neither it is there now, he added.

About 70 percent of this year's defence budget has been kept for domestic industry only, he said.

"The strength of India's IT is our great strength. The more we use this power in our defence sector, the more confident we will be in our security," he noted.

"For example, cyber security is no longer limited to the digital world only. It has become a matter of national security," he added.

It is a source of happiness that in the last five-six years, India has increased defence exports by six times, he said.

Today, India is providing Made in India defence equipments and services to more than 75 countries, he noted.