India-Russia Military Industrial Conference conducted on Defexpo 2020

The conference was co-chaired by Dr. Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary from the Indian Side and Mr. Oleg Ryazantsev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russian Federation.

The 5th round of India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC) was conducted on 6th February 2020 on the sidelines of Defexpo-2020 at Lucknow. The conference was co-chaired by Dr. Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary from the Indian Side and Mr. Oleg Ryazantsev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russian Federation.

Dr. Ajay Kumar, in his opening remarks, brought out that the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on the Joint manufacturing of spares in India has been signed at Vladivostok, Russia on 4th September 2019. The IGA provides a framework for the partnership of Russian OEMs with the Indian industry for the manufacturing of spare parts of Russian origin equipment in use by the Indian Defence Forces. Dr. Ajay Kumar further elaborated that the Indian side has taken a number of steps to expedite the collaboration between the Indian and Russian Companies and looks forward to expeditious commencement of manufacturing in India. The Russian Deputy Minister, Mr. Oleg Ryazantsev highlighted that the Russian side would actively participate in the collaborations under the ambit of the IGA and would take all necessary steps to facilitate the manufacturing of parts in India.

A large number of delegates from Indian and Russian defense sector companies participated in the conference and discussed the way forward to achieve the objectives of the Inter-Governmental Agreement under the Make in India initiative.

During the conference, a total of 14 MoUs were exchanged between the Russian OEMs and the Indian companies. The first 'Request for Proposal' for the manufacturing of parts in India under the provision of IGA was also handed over by the Indian Navy to the identified Indian industry. The sides acknowledged that this would pave way for more cases and contracts for joint manufacturing of spares parts, in the days ahead.

(With Inputs from PIB)