Foreign firms eyeing Indian security bazaar
Companies to showcase wares at an exhibition from Oct 29-31
With the Centre raising the internal security investment and expenditure bar by a good 35 per cent, over 220 leading world security companies including Canon, Honeywell, Sony and Hitachi are keen to hard sell hi-tech gadgets to India.
The offerings by these companies pertain to cutting edge internal security and military solutions comprising threat detection, access control , CCTV, and inspection, sources told Deccan Herald.
Home Minister P Chidambaram has confirmed that in view of the growing threat the security budget is to take a leap of 35 per cent to over $29.52 billion in 2009-10.
“All this makes India one of the fastest growing and important markets for Homeland security equipment anywhere in the world,” said Anil Gupta, Chairman Homeland Security Committee, the American Chamber of Commerce.
A series of meeting between interested parties and government officials have already proceeded well and many are on the card, he said.
American security companies are, particularly, eager to do business with the government as much as with the private sector. The state-of-the-art offerings like T-Hawak TM, the lightweight micro-air vehicle with “unique capacity” to hover a distance from one location for long period can be of valuable aid for anti-insurgency and border security efforts.
Similarly, Spectra fiber is said to be 15 times stronger than steel and keeps afloat in water and useful in “security netting” and “barriers”, suited for coastal and marine security to block sea-based attacks and bullet proof jackets for police and para-military forces. Both are developed by Honeywell.
An exhibition of leading commercial security and fire technology exhibition — IFSECINXDIA — from October 29 to October 31, here in New Delhi, would showcase a wide-rage of security solutions.
The key product areas in the Indian market are CCTV, represents about half of all expenditures, access control and intruder alarms, said organisers of the exhibition. “The US will have more than 20 exhibitors providing commercial and homeland security products, solutions and services for border protection, marine security, counter insurgency, city surveillance and other critical infrastructure needs,” according to Carmine D’Aloisio, Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs, the US Embassy.
The products catching eyeballs may include lifeguard gadget that detects presence of humans at any range, through virtually any barrier and almost all weather. This would enable securitymen to determine weather a terrorist or fugitive is inside a building or whether survivors are trapped inside a mine or burning building.
Cross-border terror threats and the impending Central action against the rising left-wing tide has seemingly further inspired the business interests of foreign companies. And they are here at the door-step.
