Lucknow: Modi government is planning to double defense exports. Defense Ministry officials gave this information. The ministry said that defense exports will reach Rs 50,000 crore by 2028-29. Exports this year have already reached Rs 21,000 crore.
The Defense Ministry has notified five positive indigenization lists of services, covering over 500 items, and four other lists. These lists include over 4,600 items for DPSUs to ensure that troops use weapons and platforms made in India.
Earlier, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had mentioned the decision to earmark 75 per cent of the capital acquisition budget for procurement from local companies.
Rajnath Singh stressed that radical changes have been made for the long-term benefits of making the defense sector completely self-reliant and achieving the Prime Minister’s goal of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
Singh said that through initiatives such as setting up defense industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the government is ensuring that modern military hardware is not only manufactured in India but also exported to friendly countries.
He said that while the government is supporting big companies, it is also inviting young bright minds into the defense sector through start-ups. He called it another step taken for long-term benefits.
Emphasizing the government’s long-term vision of making India a major player in technology, he said several steps have been taken, including the Defense Technology Innovation (IDEX), Technology Development Fund Scheme under DRDO and setting up of the National Research Foundation.
The Defense Ministry said that so far in the financial year 2023-24, in-principle approval has been given for capital acquisition worth more than Rs 4,35,000 crore. The Defense Ministry was allocated Rs 6.21 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2024-25, the highest among ministries.
Rajnath Singh called it the government’s aim to manufacture high-end systems like aero-engines and gas turbines in India in the coming five years.
Underlining the government’s focus on domestic defense manufacturing, the Defense Ministry said that for the first time the production has crossed the record figure of Rs 1 lakh crore.
The ministry said the total value of India’s defense exports, which stood at Rs 1,521 crore in 2016-17, grew almost 10 times to a record high of Rs 15,920 crore in 2022-23 and now stands at Rs 2,100 crore.
