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Press Release

Army Keen to Take Up Solutions that Would Help Operational Readiness & Indigenization

Apr 12, 2018


 

CHENNAI, 12 April 2018: Chief of the Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM today said that the Army would take up solutions provided by MSMEs as a follow up to the identification of problem statements. General Rawat was speaking at the FICCI Session on 'Defence Industrial Corridors: Unleashing the Start-ups and MSMEs Ecosystem' organized during the Defexpo 2018.

 

He encouraged Indian MSMEs to support the Armed Forces with successful solutions to the identified 132 problems, and told the MSMEs that even if they are able to provide 60-70% solutions to the problems, the Army will be ready to provide further handholding in the effort towards encouraging indigenization of arms, weapons and ammunitions.

 

General Rawat said that steps to encourage knowledge management in various Commands have been initiated so that the solutions provided by MSMEs could be disseminated among the different divisions of the Army. In addition, he mentioned that the upcoming defence corridors in the country can bring foreign as well as domestic investments and this could support the development of MSMEs and indigenization of defence products.

 

Responding to the suggestions made by start-ups and MSME representatives, including Mr. Ankit Mehta, CEO, Ideaforge Technologies and Mr. Abhishek Jain, Vice President, Zeus Numerix, he said that the Army could consider opening up the workshops and access to equipment to enable MSMEs develop solutions.

 

Addressing the Session, Lt. Gen. Subrata Saha, PVSM, UYSM, YSM, VSM (retd.), Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff (P&S) & Mentor to FICCI - Defence Aviation Post.com initiative 'Solutions to Problem Statements', complemented the efforts made by FICCI in bringing out the Compendium of Solutions to Problem Statements, which would spur enthusiasm among MSMEs to offer solutions to the pending problem statements. He said that retraction of the RFPs by the Armed Forces creates problems in raising private investments for the production of indigenized defence products. 

 

Mr. J D Patil, Chairman, FICCI Defence Committee and Whole Time Director & Member of the Board, Larsen & Toubro Ltd. said that setting up defence corridors is a welcome move by the Government and there is a huge potential for growth of Indian Defence Industry. To enhance the investment viability of the upcoming defence corridors, he suggested to the government to focus on setting up infrastructure such as testing facilities, labs etc. in the corridors.

 

Ms Kavitha Dutt, Co-Chair, FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council & Joint Managing Director, The KCP Ltd. said that recent announcements of the defence industrial corridors to be developed in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh is a testimonial to the Government���s commitment to develop a strong and thriving defence & aerospace industry in the country, with a significant contribution from start-ups and MSMEs.

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