The Strategic Electronics Summit 2016 was attended by over 700 delegates participating in the Conference and Exhibition which witnessed keen interest from large Defence buyers including the Defence Officials and DPSUs.
By Belal Khan
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar addressed the gathering and his message clearly emphasized enhanced transparency and flexibility in the purchasing policy and procedures and changing the mindset of suspicion which had crept into the Defence Ministry and bureaucracy hindering the progress of the industry.
Going into details, he mentioned that scams had resulted in extreme rigidity in the procedures and even minor changes in request for proposals were blocked due to the same.
Parrikar advised ELCINA to inform him about the pain points still adversely impacting the industry and he would definitely resolve this on priority.
A key announcement by the minister was the support to the Defence Electronics Testing Lab proposed jointly by ELCINA Members and BEL and advised that the contours of this project be finalized within next two months. He would like to see the Lab up and running by the time the next SES was organized in 2017.
Speaking during session on Defence Opportunities for Defence Industries under Make-in-India Program, Lt Gen. Subrata Saha, Dy. Chief of Army Staff (P&S) said “there is a need to encourage R&D and Innovation in the industry with active support from academic institutes which has the capability to perform cutting edge R&D. With the liberalized and transparent norms being laid out under the new revamped DPP, there is a need to actively work in this direction to involve the Private Sector and SME’s in the defence value chain.”
