Import embargo to be introduced on 101 items in push for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’: Rajnath Singh

Srinagar, Aug 09:  The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said his ministry will introduce an import embargo on 101 items beyond the given timeline to boost indigenisation of defence production.
According to news agency Kashmir Indpeth News Service (KINS) Singh said the Prime minister has given a clarion call for a self-reliant India based on the five pillars, Economy, Infrastructure, System, Demography and Demand .
Defence minister in a series of tweets said, “taking cue from the call of the PM, the Ministry of Defence has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them”.
Singh said this is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. He said this decision will offer a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to manufacture the items in the embargoed  list by using their own design and development capabilities .
Rajnath Singh said the defence industry of the country can also adopt the technologies designed and developed by DRDO to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces.
The minister estimated that contracts worth almost 4 lakh crore rupees will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next 6 to 7 years. “Items worth almost 1,30,000 crore rupees each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force while items worth almost 1,40,000 crore rupees are anticipated by the Navy,” he said.
The Defence Minister added, “The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024. The aim is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenization,”.