Ahmedabad, on 8 September 2022, Thursday

After reaching the peak of power in 2014, the Make In India name made with the aim of strengthening India's internal economy by reducing the country's import dependency is now becoming a threat to the country's security. According to a report, the country is now experiencing an 'arms shortage' and the 'Make in India' policy is responsible for it.

Later in 2014, Prime Minister Modi announced the "Make in India" policy to manufacture everything from mobile phones to Fighter Jets in the country. The goal of the plan was to create more domestic employment and prevent foreign exchange exports, but eight years later, India, the world's largest importer of military arms, is still unable to produce weapons domestically to meet its needs. On the other hand, the security situation is worsening as the government tightens the arms import rules and bans certain weapons.

India's Air Force, Army and Navy have not been able to import new weapons to replace obsolete weapons, officials privy to the matter told Bloomberg. Due to restrictions imposed by the government, there will be a severe shortage of helicopters in India by 2026 and a shortage of several Fighter aircraft by 2030.

According to government rules, 30 to 60% of the arms parts must be manufactured in the country. These terms depend on how India's military purchases are and from where they do them. Earlier there was no such limit in India and then India prioritized domestic production to reduce the cost of defense procurement but this scheme is now gaining ground.

In the defense sector, the Make in India plan has failed at this stage and plans like Agniveer in India reveal the poor preparedness of the Indian Army. On the other side, threats to India from Pakistan and China and the problem of border security are also becoming dire day by day. "A weaker air force for India would mean it would need almost double the number of troops on the ground to counter China, and the new plan on the other side would weaken the hold," one of the officials said.

The Indian Army has increased domestic procurement of some military items but the framework for domestic production of diesel-electric submarines and twin-engine fighter jets is not yet ready.

India's plans to buy fighter jets from abroad have been put on hold as the Modi government wants the Air Force to adopt domestically-made single-engine fighter jets. The supply of these jets is in short supply and twin engine fighter planes are yet to be manufactured in India.

Bangalore-based defense manufacturing company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd can build only eight indigenous fighter jet Tejas every year. The company aims to double its production capacity by 2026 but that could be further delayed due to supply chain disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine war, military officials told Bloomberg.

In this situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to build India's indigenous defense system are making India vulnerable to threats from China and Pakistan.