An Armyman shows defence equipment to visitors during a exhibition in Panchkula on Monday. Triune Photo: Nitin Mittal

Chandigarh, May 16

To encourage the regional industry to harness the opportunity in the manufacture and supply of equipment to the defence sector, a roundtable was organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry where senior members of the armed forces and representatives of the industry interacted with each other to chalk out a viable course of action today.Over 200 participants, including defence experts, industrialists and top government officials, attended the event that was held in association with the Western Command and the No.3 Base Repair Depot. Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, said in the era of competition, the focus should be on raising the benchmark.  Stressing that micro, small and medium enterprises needed to produce quality equipment, he added that there was a dire need to take the Chinese model head-on. Karan Avtar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Punjab, gave an insight into the state government’s policy on investment promotion, especially fiscal incentives and one-stop clearance for projects, to encourage investors in the MSME sector.Maj RS Bedi (retd), co-chairman of PHDCCI’s, defence and HLS committee, said the aim of the roundtable series was to explain the procurement procedures and related rules and regulations to the industry, specifically the MSMEs.Rajiv Chib, director, aerospace and defence, PWC, said the “make in India” was an important focus of defence procurement procedure (DPP) issued by the Defence Ministry. Pointing out that as many as 28 offsets contract, valued at $ 6 billion dollars had been signed so far, he added that the MSMEs should be given preference over non-MSMES in the selection of development agencies in case they met the eligibility criteria at any stage. An exhibition of items indigenised by the armed forces was also put up.— TNS