LONDON and NEW DELHI, July 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The 2^nd Annual Soldier Modernisation Conference, hosted by Defence IQ in collaboration with the Indian Army, has been confirmed to take place 11-13 September 2012 at the Sheraton Hotel in New Delhi, India.  

This year's programme focuses on the highly publicised F-INSAS programme, estimated at a $10Bn forecasting budget, with Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia, Director General, Directorate Infantry and Lieutenant General Sumer Singh, Director General, Directorate Perspective Planning - both representing the Indian Army - to lead discussions on capability gaps and perspective planning for infantry requirements up to 2020+.

Lieutenant General Bhatia and Lieutenant General Singh are joined by senior representatives of the Indian Army as well as the DRDO - the Defence Research and Development Organisation in India - on the speaker faculty, which already features international military participation from the US, Israel, Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia and Spain, amongst others.

The main purpose of the event is to present attendees the much-needed networking platform for international industry professionals to meet senior military decision-makers responsible for the major programmes - notably F-INSAS - within India's defence organisations, and to hear directly India's current priorities and ambitious future requirements.

Whilst there is still much speculation on the plans of the Indian Army for allocations and contracts, with global organisations weighing out their priorities between India and other emerging markets such as the Middle East, India undeniably remains at the forefront of growth in the world in terms of defence spending.  

According to Visiongain's analytical report, "The Indian Defence Market 2012-2022," it is estimated that India will spend $38.51 billion on defence in 2012 alone.

As UPI.com quotes from the study: "Despite the continued existence of restraints on the market such as slow tender processes and a dominant state sector, huge opportunities exist for a wide variety of defence firms.  Those who are willing to work within the Indian government framework for indigenization of production will find themselves in a potentially long-term and lucrative arrangement."

The conference features speakers from the Indian MoD, Indian Army, DRDO, and representatives of local and international industry.  Visit http://www.soldiermodindia.com for details or follow @DefenceIQ.

Defence IQ is a unique multimedia platform to discuss and learn about the latest developments in the industry. Join the 50,000-strong community now: http://www.defenceiq.com/join.cfm.

Defence IQ, Simon Wigfield, soldiermod@iqpc.co.uk, +44(0)20-7368-9737, London, UK

SOURCE Defence IQ