When the government cancelled loads of small arms contracts, the fear was how the forces would be equipped with the latest weapons that they need so badly.
It seems, Home Ministry and not the Defense that has come to the rescue of the forces.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has liberalised the Arms Rules to boost “Make in India” manufacturing policy of the Government as also to promote employment generation in the field of manufacturing of arms and ammunition.
The liberalization of the Arms Rules will encourage investment in the manufacturing of arms and ammunition and weapon systems as part of the “Make in India” programme. The liberalized rules are expected to encourage the manufacturing activity and facilitate availability of world class weapons to meet the requirement of Armed Forces and Police Forces in sync with country’s defense indigenization programme.
The licence granted for manufacturing shall now be valid for the life-time of the licensee company. The requirement of renewal of the license after every 5 years has been done away with. Also the condition that the small arms and light weapons produced by manufacturer shall be sold to the Central Government or the State Governments with the prior approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs has been done away with.
Also the license fee has been reduced significantly. Earlier the licence fee was Rs. 500/- per firearm which added up to very large sums and was a deterrent to seeking manufacturing licenses. The licence fee will now range from Rs. 5,000/- to the maximum of Rs. 50,000/-.
These condition should allow a massive investment in the sector as dedicated units can be set up for smaller police forces and para military. There can be a genuine competition between various foreign aligned JVs to take develop customised weaponry for bigger defense contracts and would definitely lead to local R&D for guns and ammunition that can work with equal ease in deserts of Thar and the high battle fields of Siachen.
Governments always deserve the praise where it is due and this is definitely the case. A strong in house armament industry is definitely required to take the mantle from the Indian Ordinance Factories and deliver professional products that suit the needs of its customers
