Open General Export Licences (OGELs)

The Hon'ble Defence Minister of India, Shri. Rajnath Singh has recently approved two Open General Export Licences (OGELs) for defense exports of specific components to selective countries.

What is OGEL?

The open General Licence is a license used for the export license that the government issues for domestic suppliers.
The items to be exported in India are categorized into three types. They are prohibited items, restricted items, and freely importable items. These classifications are made based on the nature and use of the products.
Recently, approval has been given for two Open General Export Licences (OEGLs) for the export of certain parts and components and also for some of the intra-company transfer and the intra-company transfer of technology to selective countries.
The application processing and grant of OEGL will be taken care of by the Department of Defence Production. The process will vary for each case.

Objectives

The primary aim of the OEGL is to give a boost to the defense exports of India. This will also improve the ease of doing business and imports and exports. Complete details about the licenses can be accessed at /showfile.php?fname=OGEL-Parts /showfile.php?fname=OGEL-ToT

Countries allowed for Export

The countries allowed under the OGELs are The USA, Canada, Belgium, France, UK, Spain, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Japan, Mexico, and Poland.

The export has some limitations; under OEGL, the export of items to any special economic zone will not be permitted.

Eligibility for getting the OEGL

The person or organization applying for the license must have a mandatory Import-Export certificate.
All the Quarterly and year-end reports which are taken on all transactions that are done under OEGLs should be submitted to the Department of Defence Production for proper examination and post-export verification. Only after this process, the application will be sent for further processing.

Items included for Export

The components of ammunition and fuse setting devices which will not include energetic and explosive materials.
Firing control and other related equipment for alerting and warning purposes.
Body protective items and related system.

Items that are excluded from the Export

A complete aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are excluded.
Any other components that are designed or modified in any way for UAVs are excluded under this licence.

Time period of the Licence

The Open General Export Licence will be a one-time export licence that will be granted to a company for only a specific time period. Which will be initially granted for 2 years.

Budget of Defence Exports

The defence exports from India in the year 2018-19 stands at Rs.10,745 crore. Now the Government of India has targeted an amount of Rs.35,000 crore of defence exports by the year 2024.

Technology used for the Transfer

The transfer of technology depends on certain condition based on the export. The export is made from an Indian subsidiary to its foreign parent company. All these have been made possible by the standards that are adapted for the operating procedure and using an online portal for clearance of applications.