Anil Agarwal, the chairman of Vedanta, called for more liberalisation of the defence sector and the corporatization of defence factories to make the country self-reliant in terms of weaponry and ammunition on Saturday.
According to the chairman of Vedanta, the country has 52 defence industries that produce weaponry and ammunition, but most of them are only operating at 10% capacity.
“We (India) can be the largest producer of arms and ammunition. If the defence factories are corporatised it will bring in a new way of thinking,” Agarwal made the remarks while speaking at the launch of a virtual postgraduate programme for executives in London.
Vedanta Experts to start producing semi conductors in India
He stated that Vedanta expects to start producing semiconductors in India within the next two years.
“Semiconductors are like the sutradhar (facilitator) for any industry. In the next two years we should start producing semiconductors in India,” in response to a query, he stated.
Moreover, in February of this year, the firm and Foxconn agreed to launch a joint venture to produce semiconductors in India.
Despite the fact that India has a large outflow in terms of oil and defence imports, Agarwal remains optimistic about the country’s oil and gas output, claiming that it possesses a 300 billion barrel oil reserve. “We need to produce at least 50 per cent of the requirement for energy security,” Agarwal added.
He voiced optimism regarding the privatisation of bauxite mines, stating that India has enormous potential for aluminium production as demand shifts away from steel in a variety of uses. “Bauxite mining will open up in the next one to two years,” he said.
