(Video) Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) The Big Picture: Modernising The Armed Forces

Topic: Modernising The Armed Forces

Guest:

Maj. Gen. Dhruv C. Katoch (Retd., Director, India Foundation)
Vice Admiral Satish Soni (Retd., Fmr. Commander-in-Chief, Southern & Eastern Command)
Air Vice Marshal Sunil Nanodkar (Retd., Defence Analyst)

Topic Description:

India is working hard to enhance its capabilities and capacities in the defence-manufacturing sector at a fast pace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, noting that there were hundreds of ordnance factories before independence with large-scale weapons export from the country in both world wars but this system was not strengthened. Addressing a webinar on the effective implementation of the Union Budget’s provisions in the defence sector, the prime minister listed a series of measures taken by his government to boost self-reliance in the defence sector and rued the fact that the country is amongst the biggest defence importers in the world. But now, the country is working hard to change the situation and also to enhance its capacities and capabilities at a fast pace, the prime minister asserted. On the defence budget, the prime minister said a part has been reserved for domestic procurement even in the capital budget of defence. A total amount of Rs 4.78 lakh crore has been earmarked for the defence ministry in the 2021-22 budget, with a nearly-19-per cent increase in capital outlay. PM Modi urged the private sector to come forward and take up both designing and manufacturing of defence equipment.