Rajender Singh Bhatia, President of Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, spoke on growth and challenges in the defence sector. Excerpts:

How do you rate the performance of the NDA on a scale of 1 to 5?

In 2002, the defence procurement procedure was a secret document. But today not only is the procurement process transparent and open, but it is also a consultative mechanism.

As far as the policy is concerned I think the policy implementation overall is almost complete. I would almost give five out of five or at the least 4.5 out of five for the performance of NDA.

What was the game changer?

First is the export orientation, which has led to almost 10 to 13 times increase in export in just the last decade. The second has been the preference for Indian products.

The third game changer is the positive indigenisation list. Now, import of many of the equipment is not recommended at all and can only be done if there is a special sanction given to it.

What is the unfinished agenda?

The key to becoming self reliant actually lies in giving greater impetus to research and development and technology development in the country, which predominantly is state-funded. We need to give greater impetus through start-ups in the country.

I think we must find ways to incentivise R&D done by the industry.

We need to cut down the acquisition cycle. The current cycle is very long it ends up taking anything between six to seven years to realise a program. We will need an increase in capital allocation to achieve the target of 3 lakh crore of defence production in the next three to four years.

(With Agency Inputs)