Rajnath Singh to address defence industry in Moscow on Tuesday: FICCI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov will address defence industry representatives at the India Russia Defence Industry Cooperation Conference in Moscow on Tuesday, FICCI said. A 50-member industry delegation will visit Moscow on November 5-6 to explore ways to jointly manufacture spares and components with Russia's original equipments manufacturers (OEMs) under the Make in India initiative, the industry body stated.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), jointly with the Ministry of Defence, will be leading a 50-member industry delegation to Russia for the Conference. The delegation to Russia is a follow-up to the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) signed on September 4 by India and Russia to operationalise a mechanism for collaboration on joint manufacturing of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for the maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment in India under the Make in India programme through the transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures.

The IGA framework gives the assurance of business order for a minimum of five years. Russian platforms identified for cooperation to manufacture spare parts and components include Sukhoi Su-30, MIG 29, Mi-17 helicopters, MIG 29 K/KUB, INS Vikramaditya, T-72 and T-90, FICCI stated.

The team from the Indian defence industry includes CMDs from public sector companies like Bharat Dynamics Limited, BEML, and GSL, and senior industry leaders from nearly 35 private sector companies like L&T Defence, Bharat Forge, Adani Defence, Texmaco Defence, Alpha Design Technologies, Ananth Technologies, MKU, SMPP, Zen Technologies and others. Senior officials associated with the Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh defence corridors will reach out to potential investors to set up manufacturing facilities in these industrial corridors, the industry chamber said.