Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announces import ban on 101 defence items
- The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has announced that the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) has prepared a list of 101 defence items for which there would be restriction on the import, beyond the timeline indicated against them.
- This step has been taken to boost indigenisation of defence production in India and push the country towards becoming Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
- The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 and 2024.
- In addition to this, the defence ministry has also bifurcated the capital procurement budget for the financial year 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes.
- For the current fiscal, a separate budget head has been created for domestic capital procurement, with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore.