The eighth edition of Defexpo 2014, India’s biennial land, naval and internal homeland security exhibition, which was held from February 6 to 9 in New Delhi was important as it highlighted India’s determination to partner with global companies. Increasingly, the event is coming to be seen where more than selling, companies are interested in joint ventures, partnerships etc to take their business forward. One of the key takeaways from the event was that Indian indigenisation is inevitable and for high-end technologies the answer is foreign collaborations.

SP Guide Publications, which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee, yet again collaborated with the show organisers as the key official media partner. Collaborations, within and without, are the way forward.

Inaugurating Defexpo, the Minister of Defence A.K. Antony underscored the importance of global partnerships to help accelerate the pace of indigenisation in the defence industry. And the global companies are also moving in that direction, entering into artnerships, joint ventures, agreements, memorandum of understanding, etc, with Indian companies. They want to be here for the long haul and not just as a seller.

While inaugurating Defexpo, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said these initiatives would help in the long run to bring down the dependence on imports from over 70 per cent to below 50 per cent, maybe in the next five to 10 years.

India’s defence market is huge and according to some estimates it is over $150 billion by 2020 and this huge market is attracting players from all over. This year Defexpo attracted 624 companies from 30 countries in the four-day event. Of the 624 companies, 256 were Indian and 368 foreign. The number of Indian companies has gone down from 335 in 2012 as this time companies which are only based in India have been allowed to seek financial concessions of nearly 57 per cent under the category. As many as 30 countries are displaying their equipment and 12 of them have their own “country pavilions”.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was the largest domestic exhibitor which displayed its full range unmanned aerial vehicles and tanks. The largest overseas participation was from Russia, the largest arms supplier to India, with 37 companies followed by France at 24 and Israel at 21. The highlight included the Tor M2KM air defence missile system, which can detect and process up to 48 targets. The Russian ADS assault rifle, claimed to be the most modern in Russia, also was on display.

Expanding joint development and production efforts on weaponry and military equipment were among the key topics during talks between Rosoboronexport (part of the Rostec State Corporation) and Indian partners at Defexpo.

The Defence Minister said the exhibition provided foreign companies an opportunity to tie up with Indian companies to meet their targets under the defence offset policy, which is being modified to allow participation of more firms. The companies have Rs. 20,000 crore worth of commitments to fulfil up to 2022. The 26 per cent FDI cap which exists on defence purchases, he stated would be relaxed by the Government in case a vendor brings in state-of-the-art technology. Indian companies had contributed Rs. 40,000 crore worth of equipment to the defence sector in 2012-13.

Indian Guns Boom

The artillery gun segment also caught attention as India has embarked upon modernisation of the same and the market is said to be the size of $6 billion. Artillery guns from several Indian companies, Tatas, Kalyani Group, the Ordnance FactoryBoard (OFB), DRDO, etc were presented. The OFB highlighted ‘Dhanush’ a 155mm 45-calibre gun with a range of over 38 km. The DRDO showcased, among other things, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun (ATAG) project, to build a more powerful 155mm, 52-calibre gun. This gun will range out to 60 km, with a weight of just 12 tonnes. The Kalyani Group’s Bharat Forge has built its own gun, the Bharat-2. The group, which has tied up with Elbit Systems of Israel, showcased its 130-155mm fully upgraded gun system. BAE systems had a full team to explain the features of its M777 howitzer and other products.

DRDO also unveiled a 130mm self-propelled gun system, built based on the Arjun tank’s Mark 1 chassis. DRDO also highlighted its network-centric warfare system developed for the Navy.