New Delhi: The Union government’s push for greater indigensiation of defence production by involving the private sector companies in the country will help create 8 to 9 lakh new employment opportunities in the future, said Jayant D Patil of Larsen and Toubro.
Maximum number of jobs will be created in the field of naval ship manufacturing as it is highly labour intensive sector, he said.
“I believe that for every investment of Rs 5-10 lakh, a direct employment opportunity in the organised sector is created, and unorganised sector accounts for even more job creation,” said Jayant D Patil, Member of the Board & Whole-time Director of Defence and Smart Technologies Division of Larsen & Toubro.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Make in India scheme in September 2014 to increase the share of manufacturing in the country’s GDP to 25%. Under the flagship scheme, defence ministry also launched its own initiative to boost indigenous defence production under the ‘Make in India in Defence’ to substantially increase manufacturing by involving the private sector.
Jayant D Patil, who is a defence industry veteran and President of defence industry body Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), says that the situation has completely changed in the last 5-10 years and now the private sector is getting good orders from the armed forces.
He said the size of indigenous defence industry has been pegged at Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 crore in a year which will double in the future.
“The earlier investment has already created its own employment. But when Rs 90,000 crore worth of business will be added then 8-9 lakh new jobs will be created,” he told ETV Bharat in an exclusive interaction.
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He said these jobs will be created across three segments – land, air and naval platforms. However, the maximum number of jobs will be created in land and naval manufacturing as the country has embarked on a modernisation drive of its armed forces.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated a record Rs 3.38 lakh crore for armed forces in FY 2020-21. Out of this amount, more than one third, Rs 1.19 lakh crore, has been allocated for capital expenditure which will be for acquiring new weapon systems and platforms for the military.
“When I say that for every order of Rs 8-10 lakh, a new job is created, then this is applicable to naval sector because it is enormously labour intensive. Construction of every warship requires millions of man-hours,” said the defence industry veteran.
Indian Air Force is seeking to acquire more than 110 medium weight fighters under the strategic partnership route. The original equipment manufacturer will be required to produce them in the country in collaboration with an Indian strategic partner and transfer the technology.
Similarly, Navy and Indian Army have placed orders for new submarines, warships and main battle tanks and long range artillery guns among other things.
Jayant D Patil says that the country has achieved 40-50% indigenisation in air segment, while in naval segment it is 60-70% and for the land segment, the level of indigenisation is 80-90%.
“Ships will not be imported, they will be manufactured here. Only some high end electronics equipment will be procured from abroad,” he added.
(Article by Senior Journalist Krishnanand Tripathi.)
