AKIPRESS.COM - Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday unveiled Defence Procurement Policy during the ninth edition ​of Defence Expo India-2016, reports PTI. 

The minister said it would give boost to 'Make In India' initiative.

"The participation was beyond our expectations as 1,035 (companies participating) is a number which exceeded our expectation by 20 to 25 percent. Maybe, Goa has something to do with it or maybe 'Make in India' programme declared by us has something to do with it," said Parrikar, a former chief minister of Goa, while speaking at the Defence Expo 2016 inaugural function held at the Naqueri plateau.

The 1,035 companies from across the world, including India will showcase their products catering to not just one of the largest arms market India but also to other countries in the region. Also exhibiting their products will be a large number of domestic companies, especially small and medium scale enterprises. A total of 510 Indian companies are expected to be part of the expo, double from the 2014 count, which stood at 256 companies. Meanwhile, the number of foreign companies is 490 as against 368 in Defence Expo 2014. In all 47 countries will be taking part in the exhibition against 30 countries last time. They include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russia, Sweden, UK, and the US.