Former Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Chauhan said the practice of white-labelling in defence procurement undermines India's policy of aatmanirbharta, or self-reliance [1].
This development is significant because the integrity of indigenous manufacturing is central to India's national security strategy. If foreign equipment is rebranded as domestic, it may mask a lack of actual technical progress and hinder the growth of the local industrial base.
White-labelling occurs when equipment produced by a foreign entity is presented as being made in India [1]. Gen. Chauhan said this practice hides the true origin of military hardware, a move that could erode the development of domestic industry [1].
The former general said that such procurement strategies compromise the government's push for indigenous defence capability [1]. By bypassing the need for genuine local innovation, white-labelling allows the state to claim progress toward self-reliance while remaining dependent on external suppliers [1].
This concern comes amid recent defence procurement drives where the origin of certain technologies has come under scrutiny [1]. The push for aatmanirbharta is designed to reduce reliance on foreign imports and ensure that the military can maintain and upgrade its own systems without external interference [1].
Gen. Chauhan said that genuine self-reliance requires the actual transfer of technology and the establishment of local manufacturing plants, rather than simple rebranding exercises [1].
“White-labelling hides the foreign origin of equipment”
The warning from a former military chief highlights a tension between the political goal of appearing self-sufficient and the industrial reality of defence production. If white-labelling becomes systemic, India risks creating a 'paper' defence industry that lacks the actual engineering capacity to sustain its military in a prolonged conflict, effectively trading long-term strategic autonomy for short-term procurement milestones.
