Context: 

Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approves 4th Positive Indigenisation List for Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU).

Key Points: 

• Defence Ministry approves 4th Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) of 928 strategically-important Line Replacement Units (LRUs), sub-systems, spares and components.
  • Import substitution value of these items is worth ₹715 crore.
• DPSUs will initiate procurement action for these items and industry can participate in large numbers by expressing interest and submitting proposals on the srijan portal dashboard.
• This fourth list is in continuation to the previous three PILs, involving LRUs, sub-systems, assemblies, sub-assemblies, spares and components, which were published in December 2021, March 2022 and August 2022, respectively. 
• DPSUs will undertake indigenisation through different routes under ‘Make’ category and in-house development through MSME and private Indian industry.

What is Positive Indigenisation List (PIL)?

• The Positive Indigenisation List consists of items that can only be procured by the Indian armed forces from domestic manufacturers, including those from the private sector or DPSUs.

• This move is part of the government’s efforts to reduce the reliance on imported arms and promote indigenous manufacturing of defense equipment. 

• This concept was rolled out in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.

Significance: 

• Indigenisation will provide impetus to the growth in economy, investment in defence, and reduction in import dependence of DPSUs.
• Involvement of academia and research institutions will augment the design capabilities of the domestic defence industry.

News Source: The Hindu