India becoming self-reliant in defence capabilities: Ex-DRDO chief

NITI Aayog member and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat on Wednesday said India has been becoming self-reliant in its defence capabilities in the last 11 years of the Modi government.

Addressing a press conference, Saraswat, who was in the steel city to participate in the fifth platinum jubilee lecture of CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory here, said India used to import 70 per cent of its defence requirements.

''Now, the trend has reversed and we produce 70 per cent of our needs indigenously,'' Saraswat, a former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said.

Barring a few equipment such as S-400 air defence system, a majority of the weapons and missiles -- such as Akash and Brahmos -- used during Operation Sindoor were manufactured in the country, he said.

''Today, the country is dependent on arms imports only for immediate requirements of the armed forces or where we do not have the technology,'' he said.

He said the country's self-reliance in defence capabilities has grown substantially in the last 11 years as the Centre promotes private sector participation.

Saraswat said he was impressed with the work done in various fields by CSIR-NML scientists.

The government has made provision of Rs 1 lakh crore to promote research and development in the private sector, he added.

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