Under the new liberalised Arms Rules to boost the Make in India projects, Indian arms, ammunition and weapons manufacturers will now be granted a “lifetime” licence, with the Government doing away with a review every five years.
Also, the mandatory clearances from the Union Ministry of Home for selling small arms and weapons to the Centre and State Governments will not be required.
“The liberalisation of the Arms Rules will encourage investment in the manufacturing of arms and ammunition and weapon systems as part of the Make in India programme. The liberalised rules are expected to encourage the manufacturing activity and facilitate the availability of world-class weapons to meet the requirement of Armed Forces and police in sync with country’s defence indigenisation programme.
“The liberalised rules will apply to licences granted by the MHA for small arms & ammunition and licences granted by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under powers delegated to them, for tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, defence aircraft, spacecraft, warships of all kinds, arms and ammunition and allied items of defence equipment other than small arms,” said the MHA in a statement.
According to the new liberalised Arms (Amendment) Rules, 2017 the new lifetime licenses will be issued to all existing and new companies, said an MHA official.
“Further, enhancement of capacity up to 15 per cent of the quantity approved under the licence will not require any further approval by the Government.
The manufacturer will be required to give only prior intimation to the licensing authority in this regard,” said the MHA statement
The license fee for the units has also been decreased in the new liberalised rules. Earlier the license fee was Rs. 500 per firearm which added up to very large sums and was a deterrent to seeking manufacturing licenses. The license fee will now range from Rs 5,000 to the maximum of Rs 50,000. The fee for manufacturing license shall be payable at the time of grant of license rather than at the time of application. The new norms also envisage single manufacturing licence for a multi-unit facility within the same State or in different States within the country.