Indian firms to supply military clothing and equipment
The Ministry of Defence recently notified the second negative import list of 108 items that can now be purchased only from indigenous sources.
India
For
a long time, India has depended on foreign companies and manufacturers for
clothing for the armed forces, many of whom operate under extreme weather
conditions but is now looking towards local industries in an effort to
indigenise production of key equipment.
Chief
of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat recently visited a clothing manufacturer
in Bengaluru who could potentially supply sleeping bags, camouflage tents and
jackets to the military, according to a report in the Hindustan Times.
The
latest guidelines will be implemented in a phased manner, with restrictions on
49 of the 108 items coming into effect from December 2021. Twenty-one items
will be placed in the list in December 2022, 17 in December 2023, 13 in
December 2024 and a further eight items in December 2025.
The
defence ministry is looking at the kind of clothing that can sustain soldiers
in the kind of extreme cold climate (near northern borders of Ladakh) and in
the hot, dry and humid climate in the deserts and the north-eastern regions in
the jungle and semi-mountainous terrain.
Lt
Gen (Retd) HS Panag said that India’s defence exports in 2018-19 were worth ?10,745
crore, but the country was also the second largest defence importer, accounting
for 9.5 per cent of the global market share.
Source: The Federal
Image Sources: Google Images
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