<span style="color: #222222;">Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has called for joint efforts to develop India as a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub. He emphasised the need for MRO services to safeguard India's defence equipment and systems, and protect defence forces. He was speaking at the inaugural session of the seminar on "Sustenance in MRO and Obsolescence Mitigation: Op capability Enhancers in Aerospace Domain" organised by the Indian Air Force at Aero India in Bengaluru. The Minister pointed out that self-confidence and morale of country's defence forces will be strengthened by using indigenous equipment.<br />''<br />''He mentioned that due to geo-political developments, India is taking steps to strengthen its defence sector. He assured that the government is committed towards making the best equipment and platforms available to defence forces to bolster national security. Mr Singh further mentioned that along with combat readiness, the government has focused on Aatmanirbharta in defence production, and preparedness. He said that India is moving ahead in the field of defence production as a result.<br />''<br />''Defence Minister listed various initiatives to develop self-reliance in the IAF, such as the Akash Weapon System, LCA Tejas, Long Range Surface to Air Missiles, Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft and the order for 15 Light Combat Helicopter 'Prachand'. He also informed that there would be 160 Prachand helicopters in the Armed Forces in the future. He expressed confidence that these steps would help to reduce external dependence of the Armed Forces.<br />''<br />''Speaking on the need to give a push to indigenisation, the Minister mentioned that requirement for minimum 50 percent indigenous content in 'Buy Indian- IDDM' category currently does not include maintenance. He suggested that the procurement cost as well as maintenance and support should have 50 percent indigenous content to make the acquisition truly "Buy Indian- IDDM"<br />''<br />''Defence Minister also launched the IAF Electronic Maintenance Management System (e-MMS) during the inaugural session. E-MMS is one of the largest and technologically complex digital Enterprise Asset Management solutions implemented in the world.</span><br />