E-Conclave for Defence MSMEs held

May 22, 2020

On May 21, 2020, the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the E-Conclave of Defence MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises).

Highlights

The E-conclave was organized by CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), SIDM (Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers) and Department of Defence Production. Around 800 Defence MSMEs participated in the conclave that was held through video conferencing.

The Conclave identified the fact that the US Defence industry developed within a short span of two years during World War II.

Background

The GoI recently announced that, the defence sector will focus on indigenization of defence raw materials to boost its defence production. This was announced to help economic growth during COVID-19 crisis. To achieve this, the GoI had imposed import ban on certain goods during its announcement of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The Indian Air Force recently announced its stalling of three main projects of buying aircrafts from foreign countries. Instead, the IAF is to tie up with HAL to achieve those projects.

Thus, the conclave was conducted to let the MSMEs learn about the current requirements of defence sector. It also focused on how MSMEs can help boost defence production.