‘Indian Army best suited to realise Make in India goal’

 The Indian Army is most suited and most usefully positioned to help the country realise the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ goal and the 1.3 million-strong Army is the best business provider, Lt Gen Subrata Saha, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Planning and System) said on Friday.

Speaking at the 7th Industry Defence Linkage Eastern Region organised by CII, Saha India is working with top academics and scientists for world-class solutions in defence equipment manufacturing to achieve its goal of indigenisation in the defence sector.

“They have come out with some wonderful solutions,” said Lt Gen Saha.

Currently, the Army is holding a series of meetings with premier institutes such as IIT and IIM.

With a huge budgetary allocation earmarked for procuring defence equipment, Saha said it is a “humongous opportunity” for Indian companies, especially MSMEs, to make the most of the high-value order books.

By a conservative estimate, opportunities for Indian MSMEs in the defence equipment sector are worth 9.6 billion dollars.