Global defense industry eyes India

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NEW DELHI, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- India is rapidly emerging as a major potential arms market.

Deloitte Touche, a U.S. consultancy firm, said the global defense industry, shrinking in overall global sales since the worldwide economic turndown began in 2008, years, can expand by selling armaments to India.

Deloitte Touche reported that global defense contractors in aerospace and related defense industries experienced a 1 percent decrease in global revenues in the first six months of 2012, in addition to a 3.3 percent decline in revenues in 2011.

"With the decreasing defense budget cycle in the U.S. and Europe, their industries could look to expand their business in India due to its burgeoning requirement of aircraft, weapons and other security equipment," Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited Director Nidhi Goyal told the Business Standard.

"This is also attractive for those industries to take advantage of manpower and cost reduction by production and assembly in India."

India over the next 5-10 years intends to spend more than $100 billion to re-equip its armed forces and upgrade them by purchasing a range of advanced weapon systems and technologies.

Among the massive contracts under consideration by the Indian military are a multibillion-dollar contracts to purchase 126 Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) for the Indian air force, 197 helicopters and 75 multi-role naval helicopters worth roughly $4 billion for the Indian navy.