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by Huma Siddiqui
According to the figures released by the ministry of defence in Parliament recently, the country’s defence exports have increased manifold this year, as compared with the same period last year (April to September), mainly due to the fourfold increase in exports from the private defence industry — based on the export permissions given. Of the total exports of Rs 645 crore, the contribution of the private sector is a healthy 63% or 441 crore.
How did you achieve such huge numbers in exports?
Our export performance has been encouraging and we are looking to increase our reach further. The company is the proud recipient of awards for excellence in exports by the Export Promotion Cell of the ministry of commerce. On the export front, we have been greatly encouraged by the recent policy decisions taken by the ministry of defence and the attention being given to defence exports.
All this has already started showing results as is evident from the export numbers released recently by the government, which show that private defence exports have grown fourfold during the period from April–September 2015 compared with the same period last year. We are quite upbeat and are targeting Rs 400 crore in exports this year. Our plans, going forward, are to achieve R1,000 crore in exports in the next three-four years.
The Make In India initiative of the government is a step in the right direction. We believe this will give the much-needed fillip to manufacturing in India. Also, the launch of the Make in India portal by defence minister Manohar Parrikar is another step in this direction.
What are the future plans of the company?
Enthused by several industry-friendly measures taken by the government, we have chalked out a strategy to invest Rs 200 cr over the next two-three years to augment our existing manufacturing facilities, and also set up new divisions. Besides setting up a state-of-the-art manufacturing unit for night vision devices in India, we are in an advanced stage of finalising our plans for the manufacture of II tubes and are also looking at the possibility of making optical lenses in India.
Our discussions with our technology partner for setting up a facility to manufacture thermal imagers are in an advanced stage. We have an existing client base in over 100 countries and are looking to tap this for our electro-optical devices also.
Considering you are supplying to Nato forces and have a global presence, yet you failed trials for bulletproof jackets for the Indian armed forces. Why?
I would not like to dwell on this much except to say that the product failed due to a lack of complete understanding of the trial philosophy. However, the government has already taken very proactive measures to address this issue for all future RFPs. Suffice to say we are ready and technologically competent and are confident we will be able to field a product when the RFP comes out, which will meet the requirements of the armed forces.
You mentioned initiatives taken by the government to encourage defence exports. What kind of support are the Indian missions providing?
The outlook of the defence ministry and the Indian authorities has changed and a lot of emphasis is being given to encourage defence exports. Policy changes, along with the active support of the envoys and other government authorities, are indeed welcome. The defence ministry under the able leadership of Parrikar is now quite supportive and looks to not only facilitate exports, but also to encourage domestic production of military stores.
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