The Indian government’s recent decision to relax FDI norms in defence has brought in a wave of dynamism into the sector. The Dollar Business caught up with Kiran V., General Manager – International Marketing, Bharat Electronics Ltd., one of the few defence exporters from India, to learn what the policy change means for the sector.
TDB: What is your outlook for the defence market in India? How have market dynamics changed post-FDI deregulation in the sector?
Kiran V. (KV): The defence market in India has a lot of potential. Though the country has not been able to do large scale procurement in the last few decades, a host of Indian defence needs are going to be addressed in the next five to eight years and that is a positive sign for the sector.
We believe that the change in FDI rules shall act as a motivation for various companies in the defence manufacturing sector to join hands to do better. One must understand that no individual company has all the strengths and capabilities to meet the requirements of this mammoth sector. We expect domestic and international companies to collaborate and build partnerships in this sector. Therefore, a number of partnerships and joint ventures have been announced in recent times and more are expected in future. The trend of collaborations translates to a veritable opportunity for organisations like ours. We are definitely looking forward to partner with organisations that have similar objectives but have strengths in different core areas.
Over a period of time, not much rivalry will exist within the country. Like I said earlier, we expect to see a lot of partnerships among companies with interests in the Indian defence market. For instance, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has several core strengths and capabilities. But this sector is so vast that no company can command capabilities in all the aspects of product manufacturing. We are open to partnerships, not just with foreign companies but also with domestic companies and public sector units. In fact, we have recently signed a MoU with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and are pursuing discussions with some others as well.
This story is from the September 2016 edition of The Dollar Business.
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This story is from the September 2016 edition of The Dollar Business.
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