According to a senior source in the Ministry of Defence, exports of defence goods, including equipment, are expected to more than quadruple to Rs 35,000 crore by 2024-25, up from Rs 15,920 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2023. “Our target is to increase exports to Rs 35,000 crore in the next two years,” T Natarajan, Additional Secretary, Department of Defence Production, said at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event on Tuesday.
Natarajan claims that, as a result of enabling government policies, defence exports have increased roughly tenfold in the last seven years.
Defence Exports of India
In the fiscal year 2016-17, the total value of defence exports was Rs 1,521 crore. It increased to Rs 4,682 crore in 2017-18 and to Rs 10,745 crore in 2018-19. However, defence exports are expected to fall in the next two years. Exports increased to Rs 12,814 crore in 2021-22, up from Rs 8,434 crore in 2020-21, when the Covid-19 epidemic had a significant impact. In the fiscal year 2022-23, India’s defence exports reached a new high of Rs 15,920 crore.
According to Natarajan, the private sector, particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), is playing an increasingly vital role in the country’s defence manufacturing and exports. “In the past, we were heavily reliant on imports of various defence equipment for a variety of reasons.” Perhaps our technology development was still insufficient to meet our needs,” Natarajan said, adding that India has now emerged as a major participant in defence exports.
Aircraft such as the Dornier-228, Artillery guns, BrahMos Missiles, PINAKA rockets and launchers, radars, simulators, and armoured vehicles are among India’s defence exports. Global markets are also seeing an increase in demand for indigenous Indian products such as the LCA-Tejas, Light Combat Helicopters, Aircraft Carriers, and MRO activities. According to figures issued last month by the Ministry of Defence, India exported defence equipment to 85 countries during fiscal year 2022-23.
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