<p class="title">In his two brief stints as defence minister, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/arun-jaitley">Arun Jaitley</a> cleared the path for ushering in a raft of long-pending reforms in the armed forces and came out with key policy initiatives to make India self-reliant in defence production.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the first term of the Narendra Modi government, Jaitley was in-charge of defence ministry from May 26 to November 9 of 2014, before Manohar Parrikar was brought in from Goa to helm it.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>RIP Arun Jaitley |<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/liveblog/rip-arun-jaitley-former-finance-minister-passes-away-at-66-753273.html" target="_blank"> Former finance minister passes away at 66</a></strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">Jaitley, the then finance minister, was again given charge of the defence ministry on Mar 14, 2017, after Parrikar quit the Union Cabinet to become Goa chief minister.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was succeeded as defence minister by Nirmala Sitharaman on September 7, 2017.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The BJP stalwart died at the AIIMS on Saturday after battling multiple health issues for the last several months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jaitley's tenure as defence minister saw clearance of a number of big ticket reform measures and simplification of the military acquisition process.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The most important initiative by Jaitley was to make India a hub of defence manufacturing when he unveiled the long-pending strategic partnership model in May 2017.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Under the policy, select private Indian firms were allowed to rope in foreign entities to build military platforms like submarines, fighter jets, helicopters and armoured vehicles/main battle tanks in India.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The policy envisaged the establishment of long-term strategic partnerships with Indian defence majors through a transparent and competitive process wherein Indian companies would tie-up with foreign military firms to set up domestic manufacturing infrastructure.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The first project under the policy was finalised last year, under which the Indian Navy will procure 111 utility helicopters at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As defence minister, Jaitley, in August 2017, also approved 65 reform measures for the Indian Army, which included redeployment of nearly 57,000 officers and personnel of other ranks.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When asked for his comments after the unveiling of the reform measures, Jaitley had said: "Perhaps for the first time after Independence, such a big and far-reaching reform process is being initiated in the Army."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The reform measures included optimisation of signal establishments, closure of military farms and army postal wing in peace locations, as well as restructuring of repair echelons, including base workshops.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As defence minister, Jaitley's focus was to strengthen combat capabilities of the Army, Navy and the Air Force considering the changing regional security matrix and geo-political dynamics.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In his budget for 2018-19, Jaitley as finance minister proposed setting up of two defence industrial corridors to promote domestic production.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He also approved a number of key decisions to bring in reforms in the Navy and the Air Force. </p>
<p class="title">In his two brief stints as defence minister, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/arun-jaitley">Arun Jaitley</a> cleared the path for ushering in a raft of long-pending reforms in the armed forces and came out with key policy initiatives to make India self-reliant in defence production.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the first term of the Narendra Modi government, Jaitley was in-charge of defence ministry from May 26 to November 9 of 2014, before Manohar Parrikar was brought in from Goa to helm it.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><strong>RIP Arun Jaitley |<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/liveblog/rip-arun-jaitley-former-finance-minister-passes-away-at-66-753273.html" target="_blank"> Former finance minister passes away at 66</a></strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">Jaitley, the then finance minister, was again given charge of the defence ministry on Mar 14, 2017, after Parrikar quit the Union Cabinet to become Goa chief minister.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was succeeded as defence minister by Nirmala Sitharaman on September 7, 2017.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The BJP stalwart died at the AIIMS on Saturday after battling multiple health issues for the last several months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jaitley's tenure as defence minister saw clearance of a number of big ticket reform measures and simplification of the military acquisition process.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The most important initiative by Jaitley was to make India a hub of defence manufacturing when he unveiled the long-pending strategic partnership model in May 2017.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Under the policy, select private Indian firms were allowed to rope in foreign entities to build military platforms like submarines, fighter jets, helicopters and armoured vehicles/main battle tanks in India.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The policy envisaged the establishment of long-term strategic partnerships with Indian defence majors through a transparent and competitive process wherein Indian companies would tie-up with foreign military firms to set up domestic manufacturing infrastructure.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The first project under the policy was finalised last year, under which the Indian Navy will procure 111 utility helicopters at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As defence minister, Jaitley, in August 2017, also approved 65 reform measures for the Indian Army, which included redeployment of nearly 57,000 officers and personnel of other ranks.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When asked for his comments after the unveiling of the reform measures, Jaitley had said: "Perhaps for the first time after Independence, such a big and far-reaching reform process is being initiated in the Army."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The reform measures included optimisation of signal establishments, closure of military farms and army postal wing in peace locations, as well as restructuring of repair echelons, including base workshops.</p>.<p class="bodytext">As defence minister, Jaitley's focus was to strengthen combat capabilities of the Army, Navy and the Air Force considering the changing regional security matrix and geo-political dynamics.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In his budget for 2018-19, Jaitley as finance minister proposed setting up of two defence industrial corridors to promote domestic production.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He also approved a number of key decisions to bring in reforms in the Navy and the Air Force. </p>