Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that 250 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) have been signed for setting up industrial units in the Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
"We have also established two Defence Industrial Corridors in the States of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. So far, more than 250 MoUs have been signed for the establishment of industrial units in the two corridors," Singh said while addressing the CEO's roundtable conference at Aero India 2025 here.
Addressing the foreign defence manufacturers, the Defence Minister said that government has allowed 75 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) for companies seeking defence license via Automatic Route while 100 per cent FDI would be allowed under government approval route.
"We have allowed FDI upto 75 per cent through the Automatic Route for companies seeking a new defence license and upto 100 per cent is also allowed under the government approval route. In this regard, a total of 46 Joint Ventures and Companies have been given foreign investment approval in the defence sector to date," Singh said.
As the nature of warfare is changing rapidly, "We need to adopt and improve solutions constantly," Singh said, adding that use of drones in recent conflicts indicate that future would depend on the integrated efforts of manned, unmanned and autonomous warfare systems.
"For example, the earlier reliance on pure hardware-based systems is increasingly getting replaced by software-based systems. Today, the nature of communication and data-sharing in military operations is getting much more complex. Our reliance on space-based navigation systems, space-based communication and surveillance implies that space-based assets would have to be integrated into our operational plans.The use of drones in recent conflicts indicates that the future will depend on the integrated efforts of manned, unmanned and autonomous warfare systems. Hence, our efforts on defence manufacturing have to focus on creating counter-measures for these emerging areas," he added.
"We have taken numerous initiatives over the last few years, under the visionary leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strengthen domestic defence manufacturing," Singh added."In these challenging times, a period where the global security situation is fragile, where the rules-based order is being challenged and where technologies are creating new opportunities and vulnerabilities, this Round Table provides an opportunity to deliberate on these processes and technologies," he said.