The Strategic Initiative Committee of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry along with the Manufacturing & MSME Committee of The Chamber organized a Round Table Discussion on "Opportunities in Defence Manufacturing" on 12th February at the WEBEL-BCC&I Tech Incubation Centre.

The session, attended by around 25 delegates from 12 MSME, was chaired by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC (Retd.). Mr. Debkumar Basu, Chairperson, Manufacturing and MSME Committee, Mr. Tapas Dasgupta, Senior Member, Manufacturing & MSME Committee, along with Lt. General Aniruddha Chakravarty, AVSM, VSM (Retd), Ayudh Bhusan Dr. Rajib Chakraborty, IOFS (Retd) and Vice Admiral Pradip Kumar Chatterjee, PVSM, AVSM, NM (Retd.) from the Strategic Initiative Committee also joined the discussion.

With the primary objective of facilitating easier participation into the defence sector, the session focused at identifying the strengths and growth potential of the MSMEs who participated.

Dr. Chakraborty pointed out to the MSMEs that it is the right time to enter or further involve into the defence sector manufacturing considering the Make in India impetus of the Government to meet the requirements of indigenization. Air Chief Marshall Arup Raha seconded that there is a huge untapped potential in the defence market. He added that MSME from other states have already made a significant progress in the sector.

The end goal of this session and the sessions to follow, is to construct a team of shortlisted delegates for visits to various defence facilities in the country. The Delegation Programme would aim at driving greater competency, better knowledge of the requirements of the industry and know-hows among the participants.