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India-Italy ink MoU in Defence, Technology Sector

New Delhi, November 10, 2006

The Indian Defence Industry is expected to create business worth $10 billion through offsets in defence procurement, said the Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju, at the `India-Italy Defence Industry Symposium’, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday. He said that India today has world class infrastructure and the advantage of having relatively low production costs.

The opening up of the Indian defence industry to the private sector heralds a new beginning as the greater private sector participation in Defence Industry is the need of the hour , said the Secretary (Defence Production) , Ministry of Defence, K P Singh, in his keynote address.

He said that in order to encourage private investment in the defence industry, the government plans to select Rashtriya Udyog Ratnas – Indian companies who would deal in production of exclusive defence equipment. Further, referring to the changes introduced by the Indian Government in the Defence Procurement Policy, he said it will not only offer a level playing field to several Indian companies, but also give them an opportunity to do business in the world market.

While Italy has expertise in production of high-tech weapon systems, India has the great asset of manpower,”. This strengths could be combined to give a win-win situation for both, the Indian and Italian companies, said Mr Singh. Minstry of Defence, strongly supports such partnership between AIAD and CII to promote the Defence Industry of the two countries.

The CII and the Italian Industries Association for Aerospace, Systems and Defence, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially in the area of defence and technology. The India-Italy Defence Industry Consultative Committee (DICC) has also been formed to take forward the MoU agenda.

The symposium was the first meeting after the signing of the MoU and had the Minister of State for Defence, Itlay, Forcieri Giovanni Lorenzo as its Guest of Honour.

Addressing the symposium, Mr Lorenzo said that a friendly foreign policy is central to the growth of Indo-Italian relationship. He said that the MoU was an expression of their commitment to work as partners with India .

Secretary General, Italian Industries Association for Aerospace Systems and Defence, Carlo Festucci, spoke about the potential of the Indo-Italian partnership in the defence sector at the symposium.

Among the EU countries, Itlay is the fourth largest trading partner of India and is expected to become one of India’s key partners in the Defence sector. It has already provided India with submarines, torpedoes, advanced radars and cranes for aircraft carriers.

Chairman CII National Committee on Defence and the Chairman & Managing Director of Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd, Atul Kirloskar said that the private sector is keen and ready to participate with Italian companies.

In his closing remarks, Director General of CII, Lt. General (Retd) S S Mehta said the symposium is a great start to a fruitful Indo-Italian partnership .
 

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