Indian security industry is slated to grow to the size of $ 16 billion by 2018.

Speaking at a conference on 'Homeland Security 2013 - Safe and Secure Nation' organized by FICCI in association with the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and Ministry of Home Affairs, the former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said “the police force was in need of upgrading its equipments, technology, policies and most critical sector forensic. There was a gap of almost Rs. 2000 crore in the funding required for forensics which must be addressed in order to beef up security.'

Commenting on the current crime situation in the country, he sounded a note of caution and said : 'In the recent years economic crimes have risen and cyber crime was also gaining momentum. We must ready ourselves to face the epidemic of crime in the next decade. India also bears the brunt of extremism, hence, we must work towards modernizing and sensitizing our Police Force to deal with it.'

Pillai is now the chairman of the apex Indian Industry body, FICCI’s Homeland Security Committee.

According to industry estimates, Indian security industry is slated to grow to the size of $ 16 billion by 2018. The Indian security market is growing at 35% as against the global figure of 7%. India’s share in the global expenditure for security is 3.6%. In India, the government account for about 30% of the sectoral spend.

“These figures point to a need for a robust and transparent procurement process,” said the FICCI Secretary General, A Didar Singh.

Singh who is also a former Secretary in the Indian Government further said : “till recently, procurement of security equipment for police force was seen as an extension of procurement for the armed forces. But over the last few years, a greater de-linking has taken place between the ministries of Home Affairs and Defence, particularly due to the rising incidence of terror and the growing threat from Left-Wing Extremisim. As a result budget allocation for procurement in the paramilitary forces is on the rise.”

The FICCI Director General Dr Arbind Prasad said 'India's share in the global expenditure for security is 3.6%. The Indian homeland security market is rapidly growing to meet the increasing demands of security in the country. According to industry sources, the industry is currently estimated between $20 and $50 billion over the next decade and about $10 billion in the next three years.'

The noteworthy fact is that over half of the market growth is expected to come from demands in new equipments - especially for electronic surveillance, intelligent integration systems and early warning systems. In addition, an estimated 10-20 per cent of growth will come from security spending, he added.

Delivering the keynote address the Governor of Chhattisgarh, Shekhar Dutt advised agencies responsible for ensuring a safe and secure nation that assumption of powers in the name of security should be treated with great caution as the issue was people-centered and therefore deserved responses that took care of their concerns and safety.

He pointed out that the threats to homeland security are easier to counter in the early stages, and more difficult to contain in the later stages. Further homeland security is a universal concern. It is relevant to all people in all countries. Its elements are interdependent due to the interconnectedness of the globe; problems are rarely confined to national boundaries.

The conference brought together experts from the Government, enforcement agencies and industry to discuss and debate security challenges to the nation, fair use of technology and issues of capacity building for mitigating the risks.

'The 'new' challenges to security are not necessarily recent. Some of them have been around for centuries - political disaffection, discrimination on racial, ethnic or religious grounds, epidemics, the unequal distribution of resources, the slow but sure impact of climate change and natural disasters have been constant features of the planet. What is new is the thinking - the understanding that these challenges need to be woven into the fabric of existing security concerns. It is only then that they can get the attention they deserve. The distinction between the so-called 'high politics' of 'hard', military security and the 'lower power' of 'soft', societal and economic security has blurred,' Dutt said.

Also, there is a growing tendency of seeing internal security or homeland security as separate from external defence or defence of India. he said, 'to my view there is no difference. The innate contradictions which are a part of developing India have always been conceived by both China and Pakistan as instruments that can be engineered to cause division and dissension. The encouragement of these fissiparous tendencies increases the vulnerability of the nation and impedes emotional integration. This phenomenon and its malignant manifestation in the form of secession or political turbulence is neither peculiar to India and nor is it entirely avoidable. The context of today however underlines the need to see this through the prism of National Security. Informatics and technology have given a degree of irrelevance to time and distance. Therefore, the essence and meaning of defence of India's sovereignty is no more restricted to our frontiers and we also need to safeguard the psychological, institutional and societal planes of India simultaneously.'

Speaking on technology and technological products, Dutt suggested how it can help us to gain an advantage over the increasing vulnerabilities of homeland security.
'Traditionally, we have viewed the State authority being imposed through physical presence. It is therefore not surprising that a single policeman with a baton is still considered a deterrent in some places of our country. On the other extreme we line up armed police to secure a route that is used by State dignitaries. There is no doubt that the danger of failure is huge and we have already lost a Prime Minister and an ex-Prime Minister to terrorism. This is where technology can help. Instead of getting into the subtleties of militancy and terrorism, technology needs to help in essentially preventing sabotage, subversion and espionage. Sabotage in terms of preventing loss to life and property; subversion in terms of insulating the minds and perceptions of the citizens of India from getting perverted and espionage in terms of protecting the intellectual property and critical data of the individuals and the Indian State. The critical part is that all this has to be done in an anticipatory mode that is preventive and thus protective,' he explained.

India has the disadvantage of being situated in close proximity to what is described as 'the epicenter of global terrorism', the tribal region near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, he said..

On the occasion, Mr. Dutt released the FICCI-Ernst & Young Report 'Procurement Transformation in Police Forces'.

The Special Commissioner - Transport, Government of NCT of Delhi, Kuldeep Singh Gangar said road accidents have emerged as a major public health concern. Keeping it in mind, the National Road Safety Policy came into being in 2010. The increase in road accidents calls for raising awareness among people, creating safer road infrastructure, vehicles and responsible driving.

Some initiatives have already been taken in this regard such as low floor DTC buses which are handicapped-friendly, illuminated bus shelters for women providing them sense of safety and enforcement of laws. However, there was still a need to provide emergency facilities on the road and train people to save lives of victims in the Golden Hour when the first medical aid is of utmost importance.

At the inaugural session Mr. Rahul Rishi, Partner, EY made a presentation on 'Procurement Transformation in Police Forces' and Mr. Vivek Lall, Co-Chair, FICCI Homeland Security Committee and President & CEO- New Ventures, Reliance Industries Ltd, shared the industry's perspectives.