Indigenisation Efforts of Navy

• 16 Apr 2022

For Prelims: Initiatives in the Defence Sector.

For Mains: Government Policies & Interventions, Indigenization of Technology, Significance of Indigenisation of Defence and associated challenges.

Why in News?

The Navy is ramping up indigenisation efforts especially in weapons and aviation related items in line with the Government’s push to cut down on defence imports and boost domestic manufacturing.

• Indigenisation efforts has gained further urgency due to ingoing Russian war in Ukraine and the large scale dependency of Indian military on Russian arms and equipment.
• Earlier, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has released the third positive indigenisation list of 101 items, comprising major equipment/platforms.

What are the Efforts taken by the Navy for Indigenisation?

• Indian Navy Indigenisation Plan 2015-2030:
  • In 2014 Navy promulgated the Indian Navy Indigenisation Plan (INIP) 2015-2030 to enable indigenous development of equipment and system.
  • Till date, the Navy has indigenised around 3400 items under INIP, including over 2000 machinery and electrical spares, over 1000 aviation spares and over 250 weapon spares.
• Naval Aviation Indigenisation Roadmap 2019-22:
  • The existing Naval Aviation Indigenisation Roadmap (NAIR) 2019-22 is also under revision.
  • All fast moving aircraft mandatory spares and high cost indigenous repairs are being included in the revised NAIR 2022-27.
  • There is particular focus on the fight component (which is weapons) as there is still a long way to go compared to the float and move components.
  • Float consists of the ship, move comprises the propulsion and fight consist of weapons and sensors.
• Indigenisation Committees:
  • Four in-house indigenisation committees have been formed to handle indigenisation of spares with respect to naval aircraft.
• Naval Liaison Cells:
  • In addition, the Naval Liaison Cells (NLCs) located at various places have been nominated as ‘indigenisation cells’.
    • There are currently 41 ships and submarines under construction, 39 are being built in India shipyards while in principle approval from MoD exists for 47 ships to be built in India.
    • Since 2014, 78 % of Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), by value, and 68 % of contracts, by value, have been awarded to Indian vendors.
      • AoN clears the way for the tendering process to start.
• Collaboration with DRDO:
  • The Navy is working with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the industry to cut down developmental timelines.
    • Some of the focus areas include indigenous design and development and production of Anti-Submarine Weapons and sensors, Satcom and electronic warfare equipment, Anti-Ship Missiles and Medium Range Surface to Air Missile, combat management system, software defined radios, network encryption devices, Link II communication system, main batteries for submarines, distress sonar system, components of missiles and torpedoes etc.
• Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO):
  • Launched in August 2020, it provides a flexible and accessible interface for academia and industry with Indian Navy capability development apparatus.
  • In the last two years, 36 Intellectual Property Rights(IPR) applications have been filed by Navy personnel.
    • Over two IPR applications are filed every month since the creation of NIIO and Transfer of Technology to 12 Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) has already been undertaken.
• User Inputs under Naval Project Management Teams:
  • The Navy has now forward deployed user inputs through Naval Project Management Teams at cluster Headquarters of DRDO and two such clusters are already operational.
  • These have interfaced with the DRDO labs and their Development cum Production Partners (DcPP) to provide user inputs at every stage to 15 futuristic Technology and 100 plus DRDO projects underway for development of Indian Navy’s combat capability.
• Make I & Make II:
  • The Navy has more than 20 Make I & Make II cases being progressed, under various domestic development routes of the procurement procedure.
    • The ‘Make’ category of capital acquisition is the cornerstone of the Make in India initiative that seeks to build indigenous capabilities through the involvement of both public and private sector.
    • ‘Make-I’ refers to government-funded projects while ‘Make-II’ covers industry-funded programmes.
      • Make-I is involved in development of big-ticket platforms such as light tanks and communication equipment with Indian security protocols.
      • Make-II category involves prototype development of military hardware or its upgrade for import substitution for which no government funding is provided.

What is the Indigenisation of Defence?

• About:
  • Indigenisation is the capability of developing and producing any defence equipment within the country for the dual purpose of achieving self reliance and reducing the burden of imports.
  • Self-reliance in defence manufacturing is one of the key objectives of Department of Defence Production.
    • Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and private organisations are playing a critical role in indigenisation of defence industries.
  • India is among the world’s largest arms importers, and the armed forces are expected to spend about USD 130 billion on defence purchases over the next five years.
• Related Initiatives:
  • Increased the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit from 49% to 74%
  • Corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Boards
  • Defence India Startup Challenge
  • SRIJAN Portal: To provide access to the vendors to take up items for indigenization.

Source: TH