The off-the-shelf purchase of 36 Rafale jet fighters from France by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his trip to France is a clear detraction from the 'Make in India' initiative. After much negotiations with Dassault, the company manufacturing Rafale, PM Modi took the decision of buying 36 Rafale jets in fly-off condition. Dassault's reluctance of becoming partners with the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is speculated to be one of the reasons why Dassault did not consent to manufacturing the jets in India which could have provided a major impetus to PM Modi's Make in India campaign. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar has hinted at further deals with Dassault keeping in line with the 'Make in India' campaign. FDI in defence set at 49%, the remaining 51% will be invested by a consortium of private companies with HAL rather than HAL itself. This opens up the lucrative defence sector open to private players.
When it comes to defence, India is the largest arms importer in the world. It is thus absolutely imperative that India must reduce its defence procurement and strive to manufacture domestically.
The current 'Make in India' campaign has laid much emphasis on investment which will create jobs and increase tax revenues and GDP but not much attention has been given to technology sharing.
The 'Make in India' campaign encourages companies to manufacture in India in the hope of bringing in investment as well as job creation and skill enhancement. But it can be much more than just an investment based campaign. Valuable technology and expert technical knowledge from foreign companies will be essential for India to make itself self dependent in the defense sector. It is thus, important to strike up a deal with Dassault so that the remaining jets are manufactured in India which will bring much needed investment along with technology that can help domestic companies to manufacture defence equipments without foreign aid.
PM Modi may have not got what he planned regarding the Rafale but a lot of other things went in his favour. A supplementray deal, was struck involving french company Areva and L&T, to produce heavy forging metal casing for nuclear reactors in India. This is a major step in localizing some of the expensive parts in India. The six nuclear plants will be set up at Jaitapur, Maharashtra. Prime Minister Modi is looking to strengthen the nuclear power producing capability of India as he also signed a deal with Canada to buy 3000 tons of Uranium from Canada over the next few years.
Other things discussed at Indo-French meet are preservation of heritage, development of Chandigarh and Puducherry as smart cities, construction of semi high speed railway lines, cooperation on a space mission to Mars, discussing anti terror training, tackling climate change through renewable technologies and robust nuclear partnership.
When it comes to defence, India is the largest arms importer in the world. It is thus absolutely imperative that India must reduce its defence procurement and strive to manufacture domestically.
The current 'Make in India' campaign has laid much emphasis on investment which will create jobs and increase tax revenues and GDP but not much attention has been given to technology sharing.
The 'Make in India' campaign encourages companies to manufacture in India in the hope of bringing in investment as well as job creation and skill enhancement. But it can be much more than just an investment based campaign. Valuable technology and expert technical knowledge from foreign companies will be essential for India to make itself self dependent in the defense sector. It is thus, important to strike up a deal with Dassault so that the remaining jets are manufactured in India which will bring much needed investment along with technology that can help domestic companies to manufacture defence equipments without foreign aid.
PM Modi may have not got what he planned regarding the Rafale but a lot of other things went in his favour. A supplementray deal, was struck involving french company Areva and L&T, to produce heavy forging metal casing for nuclear reactors in India. This is a major step in localizing some of the expensive parts in India. The six nuclear plants will be set up at Jaitapur, Maharashtra. Prime Minister Modi is looking to strengthen the nuclear power producing capability of India as he also signed a deal with Canada to buy 3000 tons of Uranium from Canada over the next few years.
Other things discussed at Indo-French meet are preservation of heritage, development of Chandigarh and Puducherry as smart cities, construction of semi high speed railway lines, cooperation on a space mission to Mars, discussing anti terror training, tackling climate change through renewable technologies and robust nuclear partnership.
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