'Make in India' gave us breakthrough in defence, says Bharat Forge's Baba Kalyani

India Today

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After years of indifference from policymakers and the military establishment, Bharat Forge is now among the companies that are at the forefront of India's defence manufacturing push, thanks to a crisis-driven pivot and a policy overhaul led by the Narendra Modi-led government. In 2012, at a defence exhibition in Delhi, a few paused to look at the artillery gun on display by Bharat Forge.advertisement'A lot of army guys walked by, some laughed at it,' Chairman Baba Kalyani said during an episode of the New India Junction podcast 'Not a single guy stopped to even see what the hell it was.'The lack of interest wasn't about the product. It was about disbelief, according to Kalyani, but that an Indian private company, not a foreign giant or public sector unit, could build something as complex as an artillery gun. The military brass was still sold on imports. 'Everybody believed in global suppliers,' said Joint MD Amit Kalyani.
Today, over a decade later, the same homegrown gun is a symbol of India's Make in India ambitions. But Bharat Forge's entry into defence manufacturing wasn't born out of strategy alone, it was shaped by frustration, missed opportunities, and a global financial crisis that forced a rethink.advertisementThe seeds were sown in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash. 'This idea of defence came into my mind somewhere around 2011,' said Kalyani.Drawing on his military school background and deep friendships within the armed forces, he realised that artillery guns were essentially complex forging systems, something Bharat Forge already excelled at.'Look at artillery, it's full of forging. It's metallurgy. So I thought, why don't we use our metallurgical and forging knowledge to make guns?'But back then, defence production was a state monopoly. Kalyani recalled how in the 1980s, India imported 400 artillery guns from Swedish firm Bofors, along with a full technology transfer package. 'Sweden literally gave the total artillery technology package on a platter,' he said. 'But the private sector was locked out.'In 2011, Kalyani took his pitch to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He was directed to Defence Minister AK Antony. 'He listened to me for 15–20 minutes and said thank you very much. I walked out. I got no response,' Kalyani recalled.Amit Kalyani shared how his father had carried a file dating back to 1976—documenting Bharat Forge's early efforts to enter the sector. Four decades later, the same equipment was still being imported.advertisementThe 2012 gun display only reinforced how deep the skepticism ran. 'We showcased this gun in 2012, and I can tell you, the kind of skepticism that came out, it was as if we didn't exist,' said Kalyani. 'We were offering guns at half the price of imports. Price was not the problem.'It wasn't until the Modi government's Make in India campaign began in December 2014 that the tide turned. Kalyani participated in a defence conclave at Vigyan Bhavan that year, helping draft policy inputs alongside senior officials. 'That's where the real revolution started,' he said.The breakthrough came under Manohar Parrikar, who as Defence Minister rewrote the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP 2016). 'He understood both the policy and implementation challenges. He formed committees to fix the entire system,' Kalyani said. 'If Parrikar were alive today, he would have taken India's defence industry even further.'Kalyani believes India's reluctance to involve private players is the key reason countries like China and South Korea pulled ahead in the 1990s. 'We focused everything in the public sector. The private sector wasn't allowed into defence till 2014,' he said.Innovation, he argued, was throttled by red tape. 'In the public sector, you spend Rs 100 and someone from finance asks why. You spend more time justifying paperwork than doing creative work.'advertisementFor Bharat Forge, defence manufacturing is no longer a speculative foray, it's a key vertical. And the economics make sense. 'We make guns at half the price of imports,' Kalyani said.His point is not just about cost, but capability. The company's artillery guns aren't just cheaper, they're made in India, with Indian materials and Indian expertise. The once-dismissed prototype has become a poster child for strategic self-reliance.And while policy finally caught up, it was private conviction that laid the groundwork. 'I used to keep wondering what is wrong with us,' Kalyani said. 'We had the tech, we had the price advantage—but no one believed.' Now they do.Must Watch