Import embargo on 101 items: Defence Ministry’s Atmanirbhar Bharat push

In a big push to the “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” initiative, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday announced an embargo on 101 items “beyond given timeline” to boost indigenous production.

Taking to Twitter, Singh said the Ministry has “prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them”. “This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. #AtmanirbharBharat,” he posted on the micro-blogging site.

The list is prepared by MoD after several rounds of consultations with all stakeholders, including the Armed Forces, public & private industry to assess current and future capabilities of the Indian industry for manufacturing various ammunition & equipment within India, the minister tweeted.

The minister also said that the decision will prove to be a great opportunity to the sector to “manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed & developed by DRDO to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces.”

The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024. Our aim is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation.

All necessary steps would be taken to ensure that timelines for production of equipment as per the Negative Import List are met, which will include a co-ordinated mechanism for hand holding of the industry by the Defence Services, said Rajnath Singh.

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