The finance and defense minister Arun Jaitley approved defense deals worth Rs 34,260 crore in a single strike, reported the New Indian Express. The Defence Acquisition Council approved the tendering and eventual purchase of military equipments for all three services. However the major focus could be on the navy and coastal guard equipment and devices.
The report said that the meeting which approved the procurement and manufacturing processes was attended by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh, Army Chief Bikram Singh, IAF Chief Arup Raha, Navy Chief Robin Dhowan, Defence Secretary R K Mathur and other Department Secretaries of the MoD.
The government has also tried to attract the private sector by approving 56 transport aircraft in India. The minister has barred Hindustan Aeronautics Limited from the process, reported NDTV. The deal is a foreign manufacturer could bid for the process by tying up with any Indian private player. the foreign company could build the first 16 planes, after which it must transfer the technology to its partner which will build the remaining 40 planes.
The report said the manufacturer could use the platform for civilian purposes like ferrying passengers and cargo over short distances. This policy was first framed under the UPA regime under AK Anthony, though it was stalled after Praful Patel did not agree to the barring of HAL. The Modi government has of course given thumbs up to the increasing privatisation of the defence sector.
Among Indian companies, the Reliance group, Tata group and the Mahindras have aviation subsidiaries and might be the primary players interested in the opportunities provided by the government.
The government had made its intentions clear of privatising the sector by upping the cap of FDI in defence to 49% in the annual Budget.
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