India's TEJAS fighter is one of the stellar projects in the country's indigenisation programs

New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence on Monday informed the Rajya Sabha that 153 defence items are planned to be indigenized upto December this year, and there is "no stoppage on their exports".

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt gave the information in a written reply to a query on "the number of items related to the defence which are kept under the list of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and the export of which has been stopped between 2018-22".

"Two positive indigenisation lists comprising 101 and 108 items were promulgated by the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) Ministry of Defence (MoD) on August 21, 2020, and May 31, 2021, respectively. The lists have been hosted on the Ministry of Defence Website to give wide visibility to the Defence Industrial base in enabling them to effectively meet the requirements of the Armed Forces. Of these, 153 items are planned to be indigenized up to December 2022. There is no stoppage on their exports," Bhatt said.

Asked about the amount of foreign reserve that would be saved, and whether the government is considering adding more items for indigenous production; the Minister said "In addition, to minimize import by DPSUs, Department of Defence Production (DDP) or Ministry MoD has also notified a positive indigenisation list of sub-systems or assemblies or sub-assemblies or components on December 27, 2021".

"The list contains 2,500 items, which are already indigenized and 351 items which will be indigenized in coming three years till December 2024. Of these 351 items, 172 items are planned to be indigenized up to December 2022."

The minister further said that the positive indigenisation list comprises defence equipment that will be designed, developed and manufactured over a period from 2020 to 2025, therefore, it will not be possible to assess actual savings at this juncture.

However, as per available projections, Bhatt said, "It is estimated that over approximately Rs 5 lakh crore worth of equipment included in both the positive indigenisation lists will be procured from domestic industry over the next five to seven years.

He also informed that the government is considering adding more items for indigenous production, mentioning "timeline to add more items is reviewed continuously based on the requirements of Armed Forces as well as capability of Domestic Industry".