Although nothing about NAMICA or Helina.. I put my assumption in Helina..
And I maintained that what the Chief has said, is accurate. Unfortunately, it is a habit of muzzling the armed forces. The nexus of Bureaucrats and Politicians, again at work.
How is it possible that DRDO makes everything from Cochlear Implants to MREs (and gives licence to Civil Agencies to produce them and sell them in market) yet not one weapon system fructified in time?
Akash did well, got inducted. Limited by time to set up, but a great system for static defence. It is not bad for point defence for large formations either, however, falls a bit short for rapidly moving formations. But then, that can be negated by going in for other systems to augment the layered AAD set up.
The rifles - the retooling of OFB to make INSAS ended up being so costly that had India purchased AKs from Russia instead of Bulgaria, it could have purchased for 100% of Indian Army and saved money on it too. The cost per weapon was roughly 2.3 times the cost of purchase from outside.
Why, and I again reiterate it, is it so difficult to understand that today the world is more integrated than ever and what technology you need, you can buy instead of spending billions developing?
US uses Rhinemetall gun for its tanks. You think it can not develop it's own?
That is just an example.
Similarly, in Indian case, why not pay for the licence to produce the equipment here itself? The problem is, the nexus. The need to perpetuate a program in order to ensure their own employment. DRDO has become a place where top brains are recruited and made useless by the sheer apathy.
With Modi's MII, the stress is
NOT on developing tech alone, but to make it in India, the equipment, whatever it may be, with whosoever's technology. The aim is to allow people in India to work here, in India, to make the same things that we need, instead of providing jobs outside the nation. That an ecosystem will come into place to use this opportunity for in-house innovation and development of tech is an ancillary advantage of significant importance and hence is what is being highlighted.
The first and foremost aim behind MII is to get jobs in India by spending the same money that we do now, but only outside!