Metalogic PMS Hosts Pioneering Conference on Steel & Metals for India’s Defence Sector

Metalogic PMS, India’s leading Metals & Mining intelligence firm, is proud to host the conference on Steel & Metals for Defence Sector. The conference scheduled for 31^st July, 2024; Wednesday will be held at Indian Habitat Centre in New Delhi. The conference aims to highlight the pivotal role of steel in meeting India’s rising defence needs.

Need to produce indigeneous defence materials for national security – Sh. Bandary Dattatraya, Honble Governor of Haryana, Government of Haryana

The event will be presided over by the esteemed presence of distinguished dignitaries including Sh. Bandaru Dattatraya, Governor of Haryana, Government of Haryana, Mr. S. K. Jha, CMD Midhani Limited, Mr. Vijay Sharma, CMD Jindal Stainless Ltd., Sh. Srinivasa Chakravarthy Vejendla, Director (Commercial), SAIL, Sh. P V Raja Ram, Director (Production) with Addl. charge of Director (Technical), Bharat Dynamics Limited. Shri Bandaru Dattatraya, Governor of Haryana will be the Chief Guest at the event.

Mrs. Monica Bachchan Duvvuri, Founder & CEO of Metalogic PMS mentioned that, “We are thrilled to host this conference, which aims to highlight the significant contributions of the steel and metals industry to India’s defence sector. By bringing together industry leaders and experts, we hope to spark new ideas and collaborations that will drive innovation and strengthen our nation’s defence capabilities.”

The conference aims to discuss the growth trajectory of Indian defence sector and its needs from the steel industry to ensure the national security. The industry has started producing and exporting indigenous goods. Indias annual domestic defence production, reached nearly Rs. 1.27 trillion in FY24, a 16.7 percent rise from Rs. 1.09 trillion in the previous fiscal year. In addition, the sector also recorded highest-ever defence exports, reaching $2.5 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24. This significant milestone marks a 25% increase from the $2 billion reported in FY23.

However, the sector still faces challenges like inadequate availability of input materials used for producing defence goods like special steel or alloy grade material etc which are not easily available in domestic market. India still ranks amongst the largest defence and arms importing nation accounting for 9.8% of the global arms sales. The recent advances in steel manufacturing, fabrication technologies, light weighting of steel will be highlighted during the course of the event.

In the recent Union Budget of FY25 announced by Fin Min Sh. Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been allocated Rs. 6,21,940.85 crore, the highest among the Ministries. The allocation to MoD for FY 2024-25 is higher by approx. Rs. one lakh crore (18.43%) over the allocation for FY 2022-23 and 4.79% more than allocation of FY 2023-24. Indian steel industry is thriving to supply its steel and reduce the reliance on imports of the defence sector.

While maintaining the allocation made to MoD during interim budget, the Government has made an additional allocation to the tune of Rs. 400 crore on innovation in defence through the Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI) scheme.

This event will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, and experts to explore the critical role of steels and metals in strengthening India’s defence capabilities.