Rajnath Singh bans import of 101 defence items, to be made in India

New Delhi : Hours after announcing a ban on the import of 101 defence items, Rajnath Singh claimed that the big weapon systems will now be made in India.

“The Defence Ministry of the country is heading towards the dream of making ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ a success. Today, I announced import embargo on 101 defence items to boost indigenisation of defence production,” Rajnath Singh said.

He mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his August 15 address will mention the outlines for self-reliant India.

“In the current financial year, the Budget of domestic capital procurement has been bifurcated. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year,” Rajnath added.

He also mentioned that the Centre is taking tough decisions to push for self-reliance in defence production.

“Coronavirus pandemic has showed that a country may not be able to effectively protect sovereignty if it is not self-reliant,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh announced restrictions on import of 101 weapons and military platforms including artillery guns, assault rifles and transport aircraft.

The list of 101 embargoed items include some high technology weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircraft, light combat helicopters (LCHs), radars and many other items.