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INDIA: India is among the world's top ten spenders on military equipment and the country is going ahead with its plans to modernise its defence forces despite the economic slowdown.
India's 2008-09 defence outlay was nearly US$20.6 billion, about 2.5 per cent of its GDP and three times more than the expenditure on health and education.
Defence spending will continue to get priority because of security concerns, especially after the Mumbai attacks.
Gurpal Singh, deputy director general, Confederation of Indian Industries, said: "Downturn is not going to affect procurement plans. They (government) will go ahead with the procurement plans because this is a different sector. Funds are already earmarked for it. I don't think there would be any delay in going ahead with this procurement."
India has some major acquisition plans. The Air Force will buy 126 fighter planes, a deal estimated to be around US$10 billion. There are also plans to spend US$3.5 billion on acquiring 700 helicopters on top of billions for artillery, warships and other hardware.
Mr Gurpal Singh added: "If you look at the recently announced policies, they are allowed to acquire or import such equipments, armaments and aircrafts. This is because there is a need to upgrade and modernize."
The country is also tightening its offshore security after the Mumbai attackers travelled unnoticed by sea. India is likely to jointly develop an Airborne Standoff Radar system with US defence firm Raytheon to reinforce its coastline defences.
India is not only a top spender on defence but also a key outsourcing destination for military equipment due to its low costs, skilled engineers and competitive software and technology.
After the economic slowdown, India will gradually replace about 70 per cent of imports with domestic production. - CNA/vm
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