Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India ranks fourth among 12 Indo-Pacific nations in self-reliant arms production capabilities, according to a study released this month by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a widely respected independent resource on global security. China tops the list, Japan is second, South Korea is in third place, and Pakistan is at number 8.

The study, which measures self-reliance until 2020, is based on three indicators of self reliance in each country:

• Arms procurement — imports, licensed and domestic production as a proportion of the government’s total procurement of major conventional arms.
• Arms industry — the study presents the five largest arms companies in each country, where data are available, ranked by sales of arms and military services in 2020 to both domestic and export customers.
• Uncrewed maritime vehicles, the sea equivalent of drones — covering both uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) and uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs), meant to provide a qualitative understanding of how countries are engaging domestic research institutes and firms to produce such cutting edge systems.

Indian Companies & Suppliers

• Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Indian Ordnance Factories, Bharat Electronics, Mazagaon Docks and Cochin Shipyard are among the major Indian arms servicing companies.
• Ashok Leyland, one of the largest suppliers of trucks to the Indian Army, is the only company ranked in the top 50 in the Indo-Pacific.

Aatmanirbhar in defence production:

Make-I Category:

• Under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, ‘Make’ Category aims to achieve self-reliance by involving greater participation of Indian industry.
• Projects involving design and development of equipment, systems, major platforms or upgrades thereof by the industry can be taken up under this category.

Financial Support:

The Ministry of Defence will provide financial support up to 70% of the total cost of prototype development.

Make-II Category:

It is funded by industry with assured procurement. The following platform has been listed – Anti-jamming Systems for Multiple Platforms.