New Delhi: While every time global armament majors concentrate on direct sale of a world's largest arm importer, this time they are busy tom-tomming the 'Make in India' slogan to be in perfect tune with the Modi government.
The biennial Aero-India, in existence since 1996, has become a major platform for armament giants over the last decade with India's emergence as the world largest arms importer, inking as it has defence deals worth well over $60 billion.
As many as 330 foreign companies are headed for Aero-India 2015 in Bangalore, with another 270 Indian companies also marking their presence at the five-day exhibition, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 18, officials said.
India will spend another $120 billion in arms acquisitions over the coming decade, with its 1.5-million strong armed forces still grappling with several operational gaps ranging from fighters and helicopters to artillery and submarines.
With Modi repeatedly proclaiming that one of his top-most priorities is to make India self-reliant in defence production, his 'Make in India' policy will be the airshow's central theme. "Towards this, the defence manufacturing investors' summit and global CEOs conference will be held for the first time. Around 150 CEOs each from foreign and domestic industries have been invited. At least five defence ministers and six military chiefs among the over 60 official delegates from abroad will also be there," he added.
Indian private companies, many of whom are tying up with global arms firms, are also keen to enter defence production. The government, on its part, is working to remove bottlenecks for arms exports as well as streamlining the complicated 'Make' procedure for indigenous R&D, development and production of weapon systems.
All will be keen to ascertain how exactly the Modi government plans to translate its talk of building a strong domestic defence-industrial base into concrete action on the ground.
The hike in FDI cap to 49% in the defence sector, for instance, is yet to fully enthuse global arms companies.
