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Make in India: BJP to push for producing small arms

While addressing a seminar on India International Security Conference-2014 organised by the PHD Chamber in the national capital on Friday, member of SAC Lt. Gen. Surendra Pratap Tanwar (Retd.), said, ‘We are going to take up the matter with the Ministry of Home.’

He said, ‘Until now, private companies such as TATA’s, L&T etc have been silent on the issue, despite the government’s recent decision to hike FDI cap in the defence sector to 49 per cent. The Indian private sector is equally patriotic and companies such as TATA’s, L&T etc have been waiting for decades to manufacture such arms but were denied licensing facilities for reasons best known to the government for purposes of internal security’.

‘The SAC in vain chased this issue way back in 2002 when the NDA government was in power. This issue has resurfaced again with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) fully supporting it. The Home Ministry is still not inclined to approve the stand taken by the DIPP for unknown reasons and thus the Committee has decided to again take up the issue with the Ministry so that licenses are issued for the manufacture of small arms by private companies that have the expertise to undertake the job,’ Tanwar said.

While referring to the India joining the Mars club, Tanwar said, ‘On the one hand the Indian industry has shown its capabilities to make equipment and instruments that can be converted into space craft, orbiting the Mars while on the other hand, the industry has been denied to upgrade India’s homeland security which is dependent on imports. Time has come when India needs to address the issue of its economic security.’

‘India should no longer be identified as a soft state and it is the responsibility of the state to allay
such perceptions about India by putting in place a strong homeland security system with participation from the private sector,’ he added.

Speaking on the occasion, the director general of CISF Arvind Ranjan demanded that India needs to promote an integrated approach to ensure foolproof security for its strategic installations and locations such as industry, airports, seaports, nuclear power plant, and the like.

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