Article Posted on : - Oct 25, 2019

NEW DELHI (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved issuance of two Open General Export Licences for export of certain defence parts and components and intra-company transfer of technology to select countries, a move that will give a boost to defence exports, a statement said.

The countries allowed under the OGELs are Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Poland and Mexico.

Export of items to a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is not permitted, it added.

The items permitted under OGEL include components of ammunition and fuse setting device without energetic and explosive material, firing control and related alerting and warning equipment and related system.

It also includes body protective items, complete aircraft or complete unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and any components specially designed or modified for UAVs are excluded under this licence.

"It will give a boost to defence exports and enhance ease of doing business. The application for grant of OGEL will be considered by Department of Defence Production (DPP) on a case-to-case basis," it said.

"The transfer of technology to the countries is subject to the condition that the export is an intra-company transfer from an Indian subsidiary (applicant exporter) to its foreign parent company and/or to subsidiaries of the foreign parent company," it added.

The OGEL is a one-time export licence to be granted to a company for a specific period (two years initially).

Following a demand by the exporters, extensive consultations with various stakeholders, the OGEL policy was formulated.

For acquiring the licences, the applicant is mandatory to have an import-export certificate.

The quarterly and end of the year reports on all the transactions done under OGELs should be submitted to DPP for examination and post-export verification, it added.

India has made significant strides in improving its defence exports. These have grown seven-fold over the last two years and reached to Rs 10,500 crore in 2018-19, the Defence Ministry said.

"This has been made possible due to the reforms brought in the standard operating procedure and ushering in a portal for online clearance of applications. The processing time has been brought down significantly," it added.