Taking Indian Defence Manufacturing to the World
SIDM has been working, in line with the Government's vision, to expand the Industry’s global footprint by engaging with its counterpart organisations and Indian Missions abroad. It organises seminars, delegations and interactions with countries that have a strong defence market and works to enhance bilateral defence cooperation between India and its partner countries.
SIDM also works to boost exports by connecting industry with the global market based on inputs received from the MoD. SIDM has facilitated export and JV/Partnership requests from Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Zambia, Ukraine, South Africa, UK, Philippines, and Tanzania for items ranging from Mine-Protected vehicles to explosives and ammunition to the industry.
SIDM’s engagements with countries around the world:
Sweden
- Organized a webinar on India-Sweden Defence Industry Cooperation, with the theme Capitalising Opportunities for Growth and Security, on June 08, 2021. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh was the Chief Guest and Mr Peter Hultqvist, Defence Minister of Sweden, was the Guest of Honour.
- An MoU was signed between SIDM and SOFF to promote bilateral defence industrial relations ; a dedicated Joint Working Group will be formed to take mutual objectives forward.
- SIDM took a 26-member strong Government – Industry delegation to Sweden in May 2019. Mr Barun Mitra, Additional Secretary (Defence Production), Ministry of Defence, led the government while the Industry delegation was led by Cmde. Mukesh Bhargava (Retd.), Vice-President, Submarines and Underwater Platforms, Member of the Board, Larsen and Toubro Defence.
- SIDM and the Swedish Security and Defence Industry Association organized the India-Sweden Defence Industry Day in December 2017, at New Delhi. This was a part of the recommendations submitted by the Joint Working Group on Defence at the India-Sweden Business leaders round table in Sweden.
United Kingdom
- SIDM in partnership with the British High Commission, New Delhi, organized the UK-India Defence Partnership Forum in February 2018. This coincided with the visit of the British Defence Secretary. The focus of the seminar was on fostering better industry cooperation; improving government procurement departments' engagement with Industry and exploring UK-India collaboration on future equipment requirements.
- SIDM, on the invitation of the British High Commission, New Delhi, organised an Industry delegation to the Farnborough Air Show in July 2018.
- At DefExpo 2020, SIDM signed an MoU with the UK-India Business Council to foster bilateral defence trade. Since then, multiple programmes have been held to intimate Industries on both sides of mutual opportunities. Multiple webinars on UK-Indian Defence Cooperation have been held and more specific areas of collaboration are being explored.
- The UK-India Counter-Explosive Ordnance (C-EO) Symposium was organised on 25th February. The event featured presentations from UK C-EO Companies. These UK companies are looking to co-manufacture, co-create and export C-EO products & services to India in line with its ‘Make in India’ ambitions.
- SIDM is further partnering with Defence Security and Exports and UKIBC to launch the UK – India Defence & Global Supply Chain Initiative. This initiative will connect with British and Indian companies virtually and explore partnership opportunities for co-developing and co-producing defence technologies.
France
- SIDM and GIFAS, the French Aerospace Industries Association, have been organizing many events jointly. One was a major industrial mission to India in April 2018. More than 390 business-to-business meetings were organized at New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad. GIFAS and SIDM signed an MoU to promote partnerships and cooperation.
- In June 2019, SIDM led a 17-member delegation to the 2019 Paris Air Show. The delegation represented 11 leading Indian companies. Several meetings were held with major OEMs to explore business opportunities through offsets or by getting into their supply chain.
- At DefExpo 2020, in resonance with its with GIFAS partnership, SIDM hosted the “India-France Defence Industry Seminar on the theme Exploring synergies of joint manufacturing for Make In India.
Russia
- SIDM has been partnering with the MoD on facilitating the industry’s involvement in the Military-Industrial Conferences (MICs) between Russia and India since 2017. MICs have been held in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. Close to 30 MoUs have been signed in the last 3 MICs . SIDM has been MoD's nodal partner in organizing these MICs.
Israel
- SIDM has a close working relationship with SIBAT, the Israeli MoD, and the Embassy of Israel, New Delhi.
- In June 2019, SIDM mounted an Indian MoD-SIBAT delegation to Israel. The MoD Delegation was led by Wg Cdr AK Bansal, MoD and accompanied by one officer from the Indian Army. The agenda included a one-day seminar (Israel – Indian Cooperation and Opportunities for Global Markets), a B2B session with Israeli Industry, a visit to the Israeli Defence Expo (ISDEF) and a visit to four defence industries’ factory premises.
- In September 2020, the first webinar of the MoD Global Outreach Series focused on Israel and was organized in collaboration with SIBAT, the International Cooperation Directorate of the Israeli Ministry of Defence, on the 24th of September 2020.
- A SIDM-KPMG Report-Collaborative partnerships between in India and Israel in the defence and aerospace sector -was released on the 24th of September 2020. The report covers the policies introduced by the Government of India to catalyse defence production and suggests a way forward for India-Israel Defence Industrial Cooperation.
Republic of Korea
- SIDM mounted a strong 18-member delegation to the Republic of Korea, coinciding with the visit of Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon’ble Defence Minister of India in September 2019.
- The delegation was led and co-led by Mr Jayant Patil, Vice President, SIDM and Whole-Time Director (Defence, L&T-Nxt) & Member of the Board, Larsen and Toubro and Mr Rajinder Bhatia, Member, SIDM and President and CEO – Defence, Bharat Forge, respectively.
- The delegation members attended an interactive session with CEOs of both countries. They also attended the India-Korea CEOs forum addressed by Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon. Defence Minister of India and Mr Jung-Hong Wang, Minister, DAPA.
- During the visit, SIDM signed an MoU with the Korean Defence Industries Association (KDIA).
- At DefExpo 2020, SIDM and KDIA organized the India–Korea Defence Industry Seminar on the theme Fostering partnerships for Make in India.
Japan
- SIDM has been spearheading the India-Japan Joint Study Group to identify areas of mutual interest for defence cooperation. IDM represents the Indian Defence Industry while JADI, SJAC & SAJ represent the Japanese side.
- During the interaction of Commissioner, ATLA with Sec. (DP) in November 2018, it was decided to first identify items of mutual use, study policy of both governments and from the consequent report, changes in policy were to be made to boost bilateral defence trade between India and Japan. To achieve this, the Industry associations from both sides are in the process of identifying items of mutual use.
United States
The US is an extremely important country for SIDM’s international engagement. To foster this relationship, SIDM hosted the following interactions in 2019 – 2020:
- Aero India 2019, 22 February 2019 - Interaction of the Indian Industry with Mr Alan Shaffer, Deputy Under Secretary – Acquisition & Sustainment, United States Government.
- US-India Defence Industry Forum under the DTTI, 21st Oct 2019 - in partnership with USIBC.
- The US-India Defence Ties Conference, 18-19 December 2019, in partnership with the US Consulate General in Hyderabad and the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU).
- SIDM–USIBC Webinar on Export Control and STA-1, 8-10 July 2020 - The webinar series aimed to generate awareness about India’s export control regime, including the licensing framework for munitions and dual use items, specific policies / schemes under the SOP of DDP and the HBP of DGFT and, update the companies about the changes in the export control system and list of the country.
- India–US Defence Industry Collaboration Forum (DICF) Virtual Expo, 8th November 2021 – Organized in partnership with the US Department of Defence, Indian Ministry of Defence and USISPF under the DTTI Framework.
- Lockheed Martin-SIDM-CII Suppliers Conference 2020 and in 2021 - The conference was an opportunity for Indian Industry to understand and interact both, with Lockheed Martin's business areas and Tier 1 suppliers wishing to source from India. The conference included presentations from the Lockheed Martin Business Areas on their supplier onboarding process.
Brazil
- SIDM, partnered the Embassy of Brazil, New Delhi, in organizing the first India-Brazil Defence Industry Dialogue on the 27th of January 2020 at the side-lines of President Jair Bolsonaro's visit to India.
- The dialogue saw participation from over 150 delegates and presentations from both the Brazilian and the Indian Industry.
- Gauging the potential of expanding bilateral defence trade and supporting the initiative of the respective state leaders, SIDM and ABIMDE (the Defence Industry Association of Brazil) initiated a dialogue for an MoU between the two organizations and soon signed an MoU to formalise this partnership.
- In 2020 - 2021, 4 specific bilateral engagements were conducted where the capabilities of the Industries from both sides were showcased along with the procedures for procurement in the respective governments.
- A SIDM-KPMG Report on Collaborative Partnerships between India and Brazil in the Defence and Aerospace Sector was released on the 8th of December 2020
Australia
- As part of the MOD-CII-SIDM Global Outreach Series, the first India-Australia Defence Cooperation Session was organized on the 3rd of December 2020 where a number of Indian and Australian Industry presented their capabilities.
- Given the emergence of the QUAD, SIDM signed an MoU with the Australian Defence Industry Network on 23 September 2021.
