Indigenisation of nuts and bolts can’t be a cause for celebration

The unmistakable pride with which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) publicised its achievement in indigenisation of defence production late last month leaves one utterly dumbfounded.

A list of 2,500 items already indigenised by the 16 Defence Public Sector Undertakings, including the magnificent seven created last year by corporatizing 41 ordnance factories, was notified on 27th of December 2021 by MoD’s Department of Defence Production (DDP).

The Press Release circulated by the Press Information Bureau claimed that the list had been notified ‘as (a) part of the efforts to achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing and minimise imports’ by the DPSUs.

It sounded very impressive but browsing through the list made the heart sink, for it includes several types of nuts, bolts, screws, bushes, washers, gaskets, pins, hoses, sealing rings, rivets, clamps, plugs, elbows, and jets. In some cases, different sizes of the same item have been listed separately to expand the list.