New Delhi. 08 April 2021. PHD Chamber with Official Support of the Ministry of Home Affairs, organised the National Conference on Indigenization Requirements of Paramilitary Forces: Opportunities for MSME.This was the first fully physical conference held by the Chamber after the lockdown last year.

Vivek Bharadwaj, Additional Secretary Police Modernization, MHA was the Chief Guest at the Conference. It was also attended by IGs of Provisioning from CRPF, BSF, SSB, CISF, ITBP, NSG and Assam Rifles as Panelists apart from the Industry leaders.

Vivek Bharadwaj said that the Government of India is keen to offer numerous opportunities to the Indian companies especially the MSMEs in manufacturing of defence and security products. It is for the MSMEs to take this opportunity. The Prime Minister has launched the mission of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Mission under which we assure that any procurement below a certain amount will be done by the Indian MSME manufacturers only. They are ensuring that our domestic players get a level playing field.

He emphasized that it is important for MSMEs to upgrade their technology. The forces can’t afford to trust the outdated product. It is also the responsibility of MSMEs, not to cut corners but to make products which Indian Forces should be proud of and other forces should also think of adapting them.

Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his presidential address shared that PHD Chamber is keen to work with the Paramilitary Forces in their indigenization effort and would like to offer our reach across the industry for the Forces to share their requirements with them.

M K Gupta, Chairman, Defence & HLS Committee, PHD Chamber while sharing industry perspective mentioned that the much-awaited measures which are recently announced by the Government for the growth of the Indian defense and Internal Security sector are a welcome step and will certainly fuel the growth of the defense MSMEs.

Ajay Kumar Yadav, IPS IG (Provision), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) mentioned that we have invited the industry to come up with the latest technologies and solutions in products like Bullet Proof Morcha, Door frame Metal Detector, Armored Vehicles, Bullet Proof Vehicles, UBGL, Baggage Scanners and many more.

Saurabh Tripathi, IPS IG (Provision), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) mentioned that he expects the industry to come forward and participate in the procurement process. They are willing to handhold them in supplying the needs to paramilitary forces.

Shalin, IPS IG (Provision), National Security Guard (NSG) shared that the government is not getting good quality solutions from the industry and it’s time to accelerate the pace of using good quality products to give ignition to the industry development.

Anand Swaroop, IPS IG (Provision), Indo Tibetian Border Police (ITBP) mentioned that indigenized communication equipment, arms and ammunition are the products in which the industry can help.

Udayan Banerjee, IG (Provision), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) opined that bulletproof jacket manufacturers should take care of quality as they are failing in fabric tests. He highlighted that the manufactures should make products that are durable, strong, and come at a reasonable price.

R S Kataria, DIG, Border Security Force (BSF) mentioned that the products in which industry can help include Anti-Bacterial, Anti-Fungal, Anti-Spike Coats, Bullet Proof Jackets and Helmets and Sensors to detect tunnel digging. He further mentioned that the quality of the product should be high and weight should be as less as possible for the forces to carry.

Col R K Yadav, Colonel Provisioning, Assam Rifles mentioned that the GeM portal needs to be updated with a more variety of vehicles like 4×4, BS6 should be listed on the portal.

Vaibhav Gupta, Director, MKU Ltd his speech recognized the contribution of Ministry of Science and Technology and presented the range of solution which they are providing to the services.

Rudra Shriram, Co-Chair, Defence & HLS Committee, PHD Chamber moderated the technical session and discussed the challenges and opportunities faced in the industry amidst the ongoing pandemic.

Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHD Chamber while proposing a formal vote of thanks to all the delegates and participants mentioned that PHD Chamber has a plethora of Industry partners which could work for providing suitable and timely solutions to the Government

Vivek Seigell, Assistant Secretary General, PHD Chamber gave introductory remarks and the conference was attended by around 100 industry delegates.