'Huge opportunities for joint ventures in def manufacturing'

Calling upon the aerospace and defence industry to join the 'Make in India' campaign and make it a success, Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh today said the time is right for catapulting India into the league of technologically advanced nations.
"I believe the time is right for catapulting India into the league of technologically advanced nations and I invite you all to respond to the call and move along with us on this cause of 'Make in India'," Union Minister of State for Defence Singh said at an aerospace and defense symposium here today.
"There are huge opportunities for collaboration and creation of joint ventures in the defence electronics sector in India. However, the window of opportunity must benefit from big ticket acquisitions and offset opportunities," he said.

The one-day symposium on the theme 'Focus Where It Counts' was organised by the US-based Keysight Technologies, which produces test and measurement equipment and software.
The Minister said that major companies in the global aviation industry are keenly watching the market here and scouting for working with and outsource to the domestic companies for aerospace and defence products as India was fast emerging as a centre for engineering and design services.
Noting that the industry is dominated by defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) and ordnance factories, the Minister said these two together contribute about 90 per cent of the total domestic manufacturing output.

The DPSUs and ordinance factories have played a critical role in building a domestic industrial base in this sector as they typically outsource 20-25 per cent of their production requirements to private companies, he said.
Besides, there is a small but growing number of medium and large private companies that have already entered or, are seriously evaluating entry into the market, he said, adding these are to an addition of 6,000 MSMEs that work closely with DPSUs and the private sector.