Rs 3,343 crore received as FDI in defence since 2014: Govt

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The Government of India said on March 28 that a total of Rs 3,343 crore has been received as foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector since 2014.

In response to a question in Rajya Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the defence sector needs continuous investment for capacity enhancements and the creation of state-of-the-art technologies.

"During the period from 2001-2014, a total FDI inflow of about Rs 1,382 crore was reported and from 2014 till date, a total FDI of about Rs 3,343 crore has been reported," he said. To a separate question, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said the "term 'Matryr' is not used in Indian Armed Forces".

He was asked about the definition of 'martyr' and whether the government has stopped the use of the word for those who made supreme sacrifices in the line of duty. Asked whether the government is considering a system of conferring letters of acknowledgement from the President and the Prime Minister's Office on the families of armed forces personnel killed in action, Bhatt said no such proposal has been received for consideration.

To another question, Bhatt said the government created the Defence AI (Artificial Intelligence) Council (DAIC) in 2019 for providing necessary guidance to enable and effect the development of an operating framework for the adoption of the application of AI in the defence sector. He said all the three services have established institutional mechanisms in the form of AI Sub Committee and Joint Working Group on AI. "As part of the data management framework, the services have formulated data policy and appointed data management officers," he said.

Bhatt also said that the budget allocated and utilised in the past three years for the research and development of indigenous defence aircraft was Rs 3,280 crore and Rs 2,835 crore respectively. He said a 100 percent rate of success has been achieved for the various research carried out for the development of indigenous defence aircraft.