Moscow: Urging to take benefit of economic measures undertaken by the Modi government, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday called upon the Russian Defence Industry to jointly manufacture defence platforms and equipment with India that will give a massive boost to the nations’ exports to third countries.
While addressing the CEOs of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) from Russian Defence Industry after jointly inaugurating ‘India-Russia Defence Industry Cooperation Conference’ with Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov here, Mr Singh said, “We have set up defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and offer attractive terms for investment. India is ready to explore opportunities and co-production of high-end defence equipment with Russia. We want collaboration with you to modernise our defence platforms by advanced and emerging technology.“
The minister also said that the Government is encouraging OEMs to partner with Indian entities making use of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
He added that such industrial partnership can also address ‘After Sales Support of Equipment of Soviet or Russian origin’ already in Service with Indian Defence Forces.
Mr Singh also highlighted the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on Mutual Cooperation in Joint Manufacturing of Spares, Components, Aggregates and other material related to Russian or Soviet Origin Arms and Defence Equipment that was signed between India and Russia on September 4 during the 20th India-Russia Annual Summit at Vladivostok.
He further assured that India will provide orders for procurement of agreed quantities at mutually decided price for a period not less than five years.
He expressed hope that the manufacturing under the agreement in India will lead to reduction in cost, reduction in timelines of the supplies and progressive indigenisation of spares.
“We will soon share with the Russian side the list of spares and items, proposed to be manufactured in India. I hope that Russia will identify the OEMs in the next few months who can partner in production of these spares. We are eager to see several joint industrial activities in India on the basis of the agreement in near future,” the minister added.
He also invited the Russian manufacturers to participate in the forthcoming DefExpo 2020, to be held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh from February 5-8, 2020.
The minister is accompanied by a high-level delegation, comprising senior officials of Ministry of Defence and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
