In an address at a conference on India-Sweden defence industry cooperation on Tuesday, defence minister Rajnath Singh invited leading Swedish defence majors to set up manufacturing bases in India as he projected India as an attractive destination for investment to produce military equipment and platforms.
He said the government of India has rolled out a series of reforms to help the defence industries serve not only Indian requirements but also meet international demands. He also mentioned allowing up to 74 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) through automatic route and up to 100 percent through the government route in the defence manufacturing sector.
“Over the past few years, the Indian defence industry has been galvanised through progressive policy and procedural reforms which have catapulted the industry to serve not only Indian requirements but also meet global demand. Swedish firms such as SAAB already have a major presence in India and I am confident that other Swedish firms will find India as a major investment destination for defence manufacturing,” he said in the virtual conference.
In his address, he also mentioned that India has a strong shipbuilding industry with an ecosystem of world-class public and private shipbuilding companies.
