Defence Industry Development Meet- Forging New Partnership with Industry for Defence Production The Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence is organising a two-day Defence Industry Development Meet at Chennai from January 18, 2018. The event will be inaugurated by Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman in the august presence of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Shri Edappadi K Palaniswami. Senior officials from Ministry of Defence, State Government, Services, Chairman OFB, CMDs of DPSUs, senior executives of DPSUs/OFB and private industries will be present during the event. The Governor of Tamil Nadu Shri Banwarilal Purohit and Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre will attend the valedictory function scheduled on 19 January 2018. The objective of the Meet is to forge new partnerships with private industry with the aim to achieve self-reliance in defence production under the overarching Make in India initiative of the Government. The meet will focus on indigenization, import substitution and technology infusion. The event is part of the Ministrys initiative to encourage and facilitate participation of private industries especially MSMEs in Defence manufacturing. The event will provide private firms/companies, especially vendors from Tamil Nadu region an overview of the existing defence procurement policy, indigenization and outsourcing procedures of DPSUs/OFB and update them on the recent Government policy initiatives to promote indigenization and outsourcing and the opportunities thereon. The highlights of the Meet are as follows:- 700 plus vendors are likely to participate. Presentations/theme based Breakout sessions scheduled to address the concerns of the Private Industry and to provide an opportunity to interact with DPSUs/MoD officials to clarify their individual queries. Breakout sessions on aerospace, land systems and naval equipment are planned during the Meet. Defence Exhibition Stalls by DPSUs/OFB, will be set-up at the venue, showcasing items to be indigenized by Private Industry/MSMEs. A dedicated stall will also be earmarked for MSMEs from Tamil Nadu to showcase their products/capabilities. Indian Army, Navy and Air Force will project their requirements, especially related to MSMEs for indigenization. This meet will provide unique opportunity to vendors to interact with the DPSUs/OFB and understand their requirements and their procurement procedures/processes etc. At the same time DPSUs / OFB will get an insight into the capabilities of the private industries in the market to enhance their outsourcing avenues. The Meet will not only strengthen the existing partnership but also provide scope for new collaborations during the two-day event. This event is expected to bring all Tamil Nadu defence related vendors and suppliers under one roof and facilitate creation of an aerospace and defence ecosystem in the region. NAo/Rajib