Commerce Ministry can grant licences for defence

Private sector players can now apply to the Commerce Ministry for licences to manufacture tanks, fighter planes, warships and other defence equipment, a step which the government feels will promote ease of doing business and give impetus to the ‘Make In India’ initiative.

In a gazette notification, the Home Ministry said that the secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) can now issue licences for manufacturing of defence items.

However, the licences will be issued to the prospective manufacturers by the DIPP under the Home Ministry’s “supervision and control”, the notification said. The power of issuing licences was exclusively with the Home Ministry earlier.