Coimbatore: In the last three to four years, defence procurement process has been made easy and accessible for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), Lieutenant General S K Upadhya, master general of ordnance of the Indian Army, said here on Saturday.
Transparency and accessibility have been introduced in the procurement process, Upadhya, who was in the city to take part in an interactive session with members of industrial associations, said. “Previously, the trend was that when we faced a problem which we could not solve, but we knew solutions were available in the market, we were bogged down by various procedures. Ultimately, the problem used to fester and remain,” he said.
But now, defence procurement has become proactive. “In the last three to four years, things have moved hugely. Now, we are proactive. Now, if we face a problem, we must find a solution and for that, look at who can do it. If there is someone who can do it, then I must enable him to do it for me,” the general said.
While earlier industrialists who wanted to supply to the sector did not know whom to contact, now a website has the contact details of point persons, Upadhya said. “To handhold startups that have ideas and want to cater to the sector, there is the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDex) scheme of the Defence Innovation Organisation. If startups that come up with bright ideas don’t have a corpus, we have the iDex scheme to fund them.”
Since defence procurement will not be bulk or frequent, MSMEs can also seek to export their products, the officer said. “Previously, we couldn’t export defence goods. Now, the Centre has set a target for the ordnance factory board for exports.”
Defence procurement officials interacted with industrialists and took note of their issues at the session, organised by the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Transparency and accessibility have been introduced in the procurement process, Upadhya, who was in the city to take part in an interactive session with members of industrial associations, said. “Previously, the trend was that when we faced a problem which we could not solve, but we knew solutions were available in the market, we were bogged down by various procedures. Ultimately, the problem used to fester and remain,” he said.
But now, defence procurement has become proactive. “In the last three to four years, things have moved hugely. Now, we are proactive. Now, if we face a problem, we must find a solution and for that, look at who can do it. If there is someone who can do it, then I must enable him to do it for me,” the general said.
While earlier industrialists who wanted to supply to the sector did not know whom to contact, now a website has the contact details of point persons, Upadhya said. “To handhold startups that have ideas and want to cater to the sector, there is the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDex) scheme of the Defence Innovation Organisation. If startups that come up with bright ideas don’t have a corpus, we have the iDex scheme to fund them.”
Since defence procurement will not be bulk or frequent, MSMEs can also seek to export their products, the officer said. “Previously, we couldn’t export defence goods. Now, the Centre has set a target for the ordnance factory board for exports.”
Defence procurement officials interacted with industrialists and took note of their issues at the session, organised by the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
