 "LCA Tejas")
India's defence exports will more than double to Rs 40,000 crore in 2 years from Rs 16,000 crore at present, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on March 13, adding that the government was dedicated to increasing its defence capabilities.
According to an official government release, Thakur said that India has a defence production worth Rs 1 trillion at present, with defence exports of Rs 16,000 crore.
The minister's remarks came at a book launch event in New Delhi, where he reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that this was not a time for war but for discussions and deliberations.
In line with recent targets
Union Minister Thakur's target, while appearing ambitious, is broadly in line with figures revealed in recent official remarks.
In February this year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that India's annual defence production was expected to touch Rs 3 trillion by 2028-29, while exports of military hardware could reach Rs 50,000 crore.
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Singh had added that even high-end systems, from aero-engines to gas turbines, would be produced within the country in the next five years. The defence minister's remarks came during his address at a defence conclave.
Speaking at another defence summit in March, Defence Minister Singh said, "The annual defence production, which was around Rs 40,000 crore in 2014, has now crossed a record Rs 1.10 trillion. The defence exports today have touched Rs 16,000 crore, from a meagre Rs 1,000 crore nine-ten years ago."
Back then, Singh had once again reiterated the target of Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports by 2028-29.
India still world's biggest arms importer despite ‘aatmanirbharta’ push
India was the world's biggest arms importer in 2019–23, with a 9.8 per cent share of all arms imports, according to the Swedish think-tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). India's major arms imports were driven by tensions with Pakistan and China.
The think-tank's March 2024 Trends in International Arms Transfers report said that India's arms imports had increased by 4.7 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23.
While Russia remained India's main supplier of arms, its share of Indian arms imports shrunk from 76 per cent in 2009–13 to 36 per cent in 2019–23. The report said that India was instead looking to Western suppliers, "most notably France and the US", and "its own arms industry" to meet its military requirements.
The report also revealed that arms imports by Pakistan jumped 43 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, accounting for 4.3 per cent of the world total. Pakistan was thus the fifth-largest arms importer globally.
Apart from India and Pakistan, the other countries on SIPRI's top five arms importers in 2019–23 list were Saudi Arabia (2nd), Qatar (3rd), and Ukraine (4th).
(With agency inputs)
