Negative import list

Subject: Economy

Context:

A list of 108 military subsystems and components has been identified for development by the Indian industry and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will provide support for the process

Concept:

• Items in negative list cannot be imported.
• India has been among the top three defence importers in the world
• So the government wants to reduce the dependence on imported items in defence and give a shot in the arm to the domestic defence manufacturing industry.
• By denying the possibility of importing the items on the negative list, the domestic industry is given the opportunity to step up and manufacture them for the needs of the forces.
• As per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks defence exports and imports globally, India has been the second largest importer between 2014 and 2019 with US$ 16.75 billion worth of imports during this period.