Winds of Change in Defence Acquisition in India

The new Government at the 'Centre' has been making efforts to usher in the much awaited 'Self Reliance' to the defense sector in India. Many noteworthy policy directions have been issued in last 15 months or so.Change in FDI Policy, reduction in the list of items requiring Defense Industrial License (DIL), some very important amendments in existing Defense Offset Guidelines to remove bottlenecks in implementation of defense offsets, a new draft defense offset guidelines (under consideration), amendment of existing MAKE procedure (under consideration) are some of many path breaking initiatives of the government of India.The 'desire' is also backed by action on ground as more procurement cases are being cleared under Buy Indian, Buy and Make Indian and Make Indian category by Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defense Minister.Yet another noteworthy action by the government in this direction was the appointment of a 10 member Committee of Experts, headed by Shri Dhirendra Singh, former Home Secretary to Government of India, for amendment to DPP 2013 including formulation of Policy Framework for ushering in “Make in India” program of Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. The Committee has already submitted their report which has since been uploaded on MoD's website. Recommendation of the Committee when implemented through changes in existing DPP or through other policy directions will have far reaching effect on the manner in which defense procurement will be done in future in India. Emphasis is going to be on procurement from Indian companies and with very high indigenous content.We feel that this wind of change willhelp innovative companies like us in a very big way. R&D is our strong point; the company lays emphasis on indigenous design, development and manufacture of state-of-the-art simulators, which can compete with world-class products from renowned international simulator companies.The R&D Unit is equipped with sophisticated software tools and has highly skilled manpower. The R&D team has been able develop niche technologies in the domain of software, electronics, mechanical engineering and optics that are vital for development of high quality simulators indigenously. Integrationof these modules and software is extremely critical particularly when a 6 Degree of Freedom Motion Platform is to be integrated with other component of simulator.Zen Technologies is capable of making 100% indigenous simulators as per user's requirements and specifications. Our products not only fully meet stringent quality standards of defense forces but also are cheaper than most. It would thus be extremely difficult to beat us in the competition unless our competitors are like us.Incorporated in 1993, Zen in the last 22 years, has developed more than 30 simulators and other training systems for security forces. Some of the important ones and widely used systems are Advance Weapons Simulator, Anti-Tank Guided Missile Simulator, Hand Grenade Simulator, Tanks and ICV Gunnery, missile and driving simulators, Tactical engagement Simulator, Zen is the only Indian company, which has and is developing such a vast range of simulation solutions for the ground forces.Make in India“Make in India” should not just mean manufacturing or assembling products in India. Only if equipment are indigenously designed and developed will there be more jobs employing scientific talent and India, from being the largest importer, will become a global leader in Defense equipment.The game is that the technology, the IP in the products, should be owned by Indian companies. Otherwise we shall be forever dependent on foreign technology and will never become a global leader for the Defense industry. “Make in India” programme of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is a positive step to achieve self-reliance, build a manufacturing base, generate jobs, and cut down on outflow of foreign exchange. We the Indian industry should take it a step further and bring it to the level of #DesignDevelopMakeInIndia.The Indian defense sector has had a fresh start and now is looking to leverage its position as a dominant military market in the region by ensuring that more designing and manufacturing is done in India. Given its geo-political position, operational readiness is the key word for India. This can be achieved by applying latest training methodologies and using simulators extensively.Innovative companies like Zen Technologies are a key stakeholder in getting India to be operationally ready and making it a dominant regional player.