Make in India

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology notified ISM 2.0 on 31 August with an outlay of ₹1.28 lakh crore, covering a broad range of incentives for electronics manufacturing. The scheme’s category ‘pillars’ are fungible, so the share of investment each attracts is not fixed in advance.

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan commissioned INS Nipun at Mumbai on 31 August. Built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam, it is the second Diving Support Vessel of the Nistar class and joins the Western Naval Command, carrying the Navy’s Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel and saturation diving capability.

Tata Advanced Systems Limited and the Javelin Joint Venture — a partnership of the U.S. firms Raytheon and Lockheed Martin — signed a memorandum of understanding on 31 August to explore co-production of the Javelin All Up Round missile in India. It follows the Army’s Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the Javelin anti-tank guided missile system.

The Defence Minister released the strategic framework on 3 September. It sets out India’s road map for defence diplomacy and global defence partnerships over the next ten years, resting on deeper bilateral and multilateral ties, joint military exercises, indigenous defence exports under Make in India, and maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the transfer of technology of all conventional missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation to Indian companies. The move is intended to carry missile projects from the development stage to industrial-scale production. It also widens the participation of Indian industry in the defence ecosystem by creating opportunities for private sector firms.

The Defence Ministry simplified its export and licensing rules to help Indian defence manufacturers reach global markets faster. Under the revised Defence Export Standard Operating Procedure, stakeholder consultation with the Ministries and government agencies concerned has been dispensed with for exports of non-lethal defence items to most destinations.

Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan launched India’s first indigenous, non-genetically- modified, high-expansion popcorn maize hybrid seed on 24 August at Musunuru in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru district. India currently depends on imported popcorn maize seed, and the Vice-President said the hybrid would help reduce that dependence and conserve foreign exchange.