The city that boasts of military establishments such as Southern Command,National Defence Academy,DRDO,CME and BEG is also witnessing a rapid growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) that focus on defence manufacturing and supplies. We started with just six companies. Today we boast of as many as 35 members who are defence suppliers, said D S Kamlapurkar,founder member and former president of Defence Electronics Manufacturers Association (DEMA),which was established 17 years ago to increase participation of SMEs in defence equipment development,particularly the electronic sector. The number of SMEs working for the defence sector has grown by not less than 300 per cent over the past decade. About 10 years ago,the citys contribution to the defence sector was roughly Rs 50 crore,today the number is not less than Rs 1,500 to 2,000 crore. While electronics,hardware,radars,Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV),communication systems are the conventional areas,new areas include missile systems,propulsion systems,energy materials. Research and development sector has immense potential because of huge number of private academic institutions that can join the DRDO in research and development, said Dr A K Sikder,joint director,HEMRL,a DRDO laboratory. Pune is considered a good option for SMEs to participate in defence programmes because of simplification of registration formalities,encouragement from DRDO and number of establishments in and around the city that include four DRDO laboratories. City-based SME Idea Research is involved in defence research and its director Nitin Gupta said,There has been a rise in the number of manufacturers supplying equipment to defence. Besides the DRDO establishments,industries around the city such as Tata Motors,L&T,Bharat Forge also provide opportunities to SMEs. The defence sub-committee of the Maratha Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture is instrumental in bridging the gap between the defence sector and SMEs for the last 10 years. Brigadier S B Ghorpade,chairman,Defence Committee,said,We conduct seminars and workshops to bring the two sectors together. The recent changes in Defence Procurement Policy makes it mandatory for all defence orders above $50 million to have an offset obligation of 30 to 50 per cent and this gives the Indian industry a huge opportunity.
