India to ban imports of 101 defence products

by Jon Grevatt

India, one of the world's biggest defence importers, has announced a ban on procuring more than 100 military products from foreign suppliers.

The new policy – announced on 9 August – is line with a government campaign to achieve self-reliance and is intended to “apprise India's defence industry about anticipated requirements ... so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation”, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

The new ‘import embargo list' features 101 defence products, with emphasis mainly on land and sea-based equipment including artillery, armoured vehicles, destroyers, submarines, and a range of related components.

However, although the list includes some air platforms – such as light combat aircraft and light combat helicopters – that are currently being produced by Indian defence firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, it also features some advanced technologies – including electronic warfare systems and air-to-air missiles – that would be integrated on to these platforms.

The MoD said the banned list will be “progressively implemented” over the next few years. Accordingly, the list names items that will be barred for import from December 2020 (69 products), December 2021 (11 products), and December 2022 (21 products). The MoD added that the embargo list would be expanded progressively.

“This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence,” said the MoD. “It offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items ... by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting technologies designed and developed by [state-owned] Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).”

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/india-to-ban-imports-of-101-defence-products