Time for a Re-Think on Offsets?

As India purchases billions of dollars’ worth of military hardware in the coming years, it is poised to receive billions of dollars in offsets. For India, offsets represent one of the best opportunities to build a world-class defense-industrial capacity that can meet the country’s own defense needs and demonstrate its prowess as a rising world power. In an August 2 press release from the Ministry of Defence highlighting the latest updates to India’s offset policy, the government laid out its objective for offsets, which is “to leverage capital acquisitions to develop India defence industry by (i) Fostering development of internationally competitive enterprises, (ii) Augmenting capacity for research, design, and development related to defence products and services and (iii) Encouraging development of synergistic sectors like civil aerospace and internal security.”