Defence Ministry to impose ban on 101 import items, in big push for 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat'

DY365
Published: August 9,2020 11:19 AM

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August 9, 2020: In a big push to Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, the Ministry of Defence has decided to impose a ban on 101 import items.

August 9, 2020: In a big push to Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, the Ministry of Defence has decided to impose a ban on 101 import items. Announcing the decision on Twitter, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the Defence Ministry has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them to boost indigenization of defence production.

Artillery guns, light combat helicopter, assault rifles, corvettes, radars, wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs), transport aircraft, and other high technology weapons are among the 101 defence items that will not be imported from now on. All these will now be indigenously manufactured, Rajnath Singh announced on Sunday.

The embargo on imports is planned to be implemented between 2020 to 2024. Over time, Rajnath Singh said, more such equipment for import embargo would be identified.

In a tweet, Rajnath Singh said, "The Ministry of Defence has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them. This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. #AtmanirbharBharat."

The list also includes, wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which the Army is expected to contract almost 200 at an approximate cost of over Rs 5,000 crore. #AtmanirbharBharat
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 9, 2020

Rajnath Singh said, "The list of 101 embargoed items comprises of not just simple parts but also some high technology weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircraft, LCHs, radars and many other items to fulfil the needs of our Defence Services."

"The list also includes, wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which the Army is expected to contract almost 200 at an approximate cost of over Rs 5,000 crore. #AtmanirbharBharat," Rajnath Singh tweeted.

The defence minister also said that the decision will offer an opportunity to the Indian defence industry to manufacture the items in the negative list "by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by DRDO to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces".

Rajnath Singh said the list of 101 import items was prepared by the Ministry of Defence after several rounds of consultations with all stakeholders to assess current and future capabilities of the Indian industry for manufacturing various ammunition and equipment within India.

Almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the Tri-Services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore between April 2015 and August 2020. It is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next 6 to 7 years.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 9, 2020

Of these, items worth almost Rs 1,30,000 crore each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force while items worth almost Rs 1,40,000 crore are anticipated by the Navy over the same period. #AtmanirbharBharat
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 9, 2020