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To examine where short, medium and long-term investment growth opportunities exist for European companies and to explore future procurement plans for the Indian defence sector, Frost & Sullivan held a briefing on 'Market Growth Opportunities in the Indian Defence Industry'.
Organised by Frost & Sullivan's Aerospace & Defence practice, the seminar offered an in-depth view of the significant business opportunities within the Indian defence industry and particularly within the Indian Armed Forces. Frost & Sullivan estimates that the total spending for the Indian defence market will reach US$36.2 billion by 2013. The total opportunities for procurement are forecast to exceed US$100 billion by 2022, including the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market, while the offset potential during the forecast period is expected to reach US$10 billion by 2013.
The event held in London was attended by over forty representatives from leading defence organisations including Raytheon, EADS, Lockheed Martin, Thales, QinetiQ, General Dynamics, SAAB, RBS and GE. Also present at the seminar were top-level institutional representatives from the United Kingdom Trade & Investment organisation as well as the naval adviser from the High Commission of India, among others.
Keynote speakers at the seminar were Commodore AJ Singh, Naval Adviser, High Commission of India; Dr Pracheesh Mathur, MD, Raytheon – India; Malcolm Haworth – Operations Director, UKTI Defence & Security Organisation; and Ratan Shrivastava, Director of Frost & Sullivan's Aerospace & Defence practice, South Asia and Middle East.
Summarising the mood of Indian Defence procurement Commodore Singh said, "We want all this, now!". He highlighted briefly some of the salient points of the country's huge procurement programme, in which "indigenisation is the new mantra", indicating that the Air Force is the biggest deal for the international defence market, and that the Navy also has an ambitious expansion agenda, with nearly 40 ships under construction.
Mr Haworth examined the topic from a UK perspective. He mentioned that India is the UK's third largest customer for defence exports, after Saudi Arabia and the USA, and gave a quick impression of the Indian defence procurement process.
Dr Mathur examined what he called "the Indian Defence Procurement Panorama" in which, although there are "bureaucratic tangles, funding is not an issue". He pointed out that the end-user is very "tech-savvy and always looking for hi-tech solutions". He stressed the advantages of local involvement: of having an "Indian footprint", and that "relationships tend to trump contacts", although the rule of law prevails. His talk also touched on the Indian Civil Security market, saying that, although this was now something of a mystery to the outside world, it was worth getting to know the people involved: a good relationship could reap significant rewards since this was an area of significant future spending.
All delegates, including Frost & Sullivan's own Ratan Shrivastava, drew attention to the significance in the procurement process of India's mandatory offset conditions in military contracts and the cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian defence industries.
Nevertheless, Ratan suggested treating offsets as an investment opportunity and emphasised the importance of the after-market support as an important, steady revenue stream over the longer term. He also pointed for the need to develop partnerships with the Indian defence industry and establishment, where total imports are worth an estimated $12 billion in 2008 alone.
This popular seminar is the first in several briefings lined up by Frost & Sullivan which will be investigating the growth potential of various aerospace & defence markets across the globe. These events bring together the best from the industry and government institutions, providing a unique forum both for personal interaction as well as the opportunity to explore strategies together and to set the course for future action.
If you are interested in receiving more information on the Indian Defence Industry, then send an email to Chiara Carella - Corporate Communications at chiara.carella[.]frost.com with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, email address, city, state and country. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by email.
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and Growth Team Membership empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents.
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