NEW DELHI: India will project itself as a major manufacturer of military hardware at a wide-ranging defense exhibition this week despite waning interest from foreign buyers. The three-day exhibition, known as Defexpo2018, opened on the outskirts of the southern city of Chennai on Wednesday with live demonstrations of naval, air and land systems. The expo aims to brand India as an exporter of defense systems and components. About 670 companies, including 154 foreign firms, are expected to attend, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. However, this is well below the attendance for the last exhibit in 2016 when 232 foreign firms signed up. India, the world’s largest importer of defense equipment, buys at least 90 percent of its military hardware, including parts for assembly. In an effort to reduce its reliance on foreign firms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government last year invited foreign defense manufacturers to set up shop in India as minority partners with local firms. Under the new policy, New Delhi would select domestic private firms that foreign firms could partner in bids for billion-dollar contracts to build and sell submarines, fighter jets, tanks and helicopters. Known as “strategic partnership,” the policy seeks to bring key defense technologies to India, boost local manufacturing and create jobs, and help the country cut down on its hefty import bill. India is following other countries, including China, which built up domestic defense manufacturing and technological know-how by backing a handful of local players and forcing international firms to form partnerships and hand over technology. Foreign firms, eager for a slice of the billions of dollars of potential orders, have said they are interested in working with local firms, but the policy is yet to show results. Dhiraj Mathur, partner at consultancy PwC, said: “Strategic partnership was a workable idea and the private sector, including foreign players, were interested, but unfortunately the government hasn’t been able to move ahead on it. They still haven’t finalized rules on on how to select partners.” The government is now considering adjustments to the policy to potentially allow state-owned firms, which make the bulk of defense equipment, to participate. But should that happen, “I don’t know how it would be any different from how things are now,” said Mathur. With Defexpo, the government wants to show that India is a place to partner with local firms, and manufacture both for the domestic market and for export. In a first, the exhibit will have an India pavilion to showcase products produced by both private and government-owned companies, including the government’s Defense Research and Development Organization, which oversees R&D for the military. On Monday, ahead of the exhibition, Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met with defense representatives of 44 countries and urged them to to “expand broader defense cooperation” with India’s private and government-owned companies. The minister told reporters at the expo that “the government can be a very important and effective catalyst” in opening up the defense market. Some have heeded the call already. India’s Mahindra Group signed an agreement with Japan’s ShinMaywa Industries to build and assemble US-2 amphibious aircraft in India, according to reports.