Panel approves bulk of 144 proposals in defence, explosives sectors

New Delhi: A high-powered panel cleared most of the 144 proposals for setting manufacturing units, including from defence and explosive sectors, that came up for its consideration today. Majority of the proposals which were considered today were approved, a senior DIPP official said.[caption id=“attachment_2189777” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant. Image courtesy PIB [/caption] The inter-ministerial committee was chaired by secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Amitabh Kant in New Delhi. The second licencing committee considered 144 proposals. Of this, 43 were from defence manufacturing sector, 97 from explosive sector, and one each from cigarette, chemical and paper. As many as 91 proposals in the explosive sectors were cleared, sources said. According to the official, the panel considered proposal of Bhart Forge Ltd in Maharashtra for small arms, weapons and fuze devices and ABG Shipyard, Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company Ltd. To attract foreign direct investment and boost defence manufacturing in the country, which imports up to 70 percent of its military hardware, the government has raised the FDI cap to 49 percent. The other proposals from defence sector that were considered in the meeting included that from Maini Precision Products for parts and accessories for artillery, mobile guns tanks, rocket launchers. Solar Industries India asked for permission for RDX and RDX compounded products. Besides, other firms that have asked for licences include Vihaan Networks, Titagarh Wagons, Premier Explosives, Aidin Technologies Pvt Ltd, Icomm Tele, Himachal Futuristic, Continental Defence Solutions and JSW Projects. These projects are proposed in states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Tamil Nadu. These clearances would give a boost to the defence manufacturing of the country. In the previous meeting, the committee had cleared proposals from various companies including Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Pipavav Defence. Out of the total 29 proposals, 22 were from defence manufacturing sector. PTI