The Ministry of Defence will introduce import embargo on 101 items beyond given timeline to boost indigenisation of defence production, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced on Sunday, while stating it as a big step towards 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliance) in defence. In a series of tweets, he made some major announcements and said that Defence Ministry has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them.

The Minister also said that the Defence Ministry has also bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year, he said.

The Ministry of Defence is now ready for a big push to #AtmanirbharBharat initiative. MoD will introduce import embargo on 101 items beyond given timeline to boost indigenisation of defence production.

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 9, 2020

"The Ministry of Defence is now ready for a big push to #AtmanirbharBharat initiative. MoD will introduce import embargo on 101 items beyond given timeline to boost indigenisation of defence production," Singh tweeted.