On the march for 'Atma nirbharta'
Divyam Sharma On August 9, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced an embargo on 101 items that the Defence Ministry will stop importing. These include simple and some highly complex technologies like bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets, towed artillery guns, GSAT 6-Terminal, radars, 123 LCA MK1-A advanced indigenized content though some of its technology has foreign components not available in India. The move is intended to bring the ‘Atma Nirbharbharta’ or Self-reliance in the defence sector. India is the 2nd largest arms importer in the world and the defence industrial complex is still lagging in terms of procurement of latest technologies and strong competition from foreign bidders. Rajnath Singh said that from April 2015-August 2020, almost 260 schemes of items were contracted by the Armed forces at an approximate cost 3.5 lakh crores.