Defence being a technology and innovation driven sector, latest technology and inventions are crucial to achieve self-reliance in defence sector.
The goal of acquiring advanced technologies from foreign countries is pursued through bilateral arrangements with various countries, industrial policy and Defence Procurement Policy. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has bilateral and multilateral international cooperation with countries such as Russia, Israel, USA, South Korea, Singapore, UK etc, for the development of strategic, unique, transformative, advanced technology / systems / platforms in alignment with ‘Make in India’. Apart from this, in the last two years, Indo-US Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) and a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation with Japan have been started with a view to promote cooperation in the field of defence equipments and technology.
In order to facilitate collaborations between Indian and foreign companies so as to have technology transfer from foreign to Indian companies, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for defence has been revised and under the revised policy, FDI upto 49% is allowed through automatic route and beyond 49% under Government approval route wherever it is likely to result in access to modern technology or for other reasons to be recorded.
In the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), under ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy & Make’ categories of capital acquisition, foreign companies and Indian companies are encouraged to work together to produce defence equipment in India as part of Make in India. The objective of these categories of capital acquisition is to encourage technology partnerships between Indian and foreign companies.