India now among top 25 global defence exporters: Economic Survey 2023-24

Economic Survey 2023-24 says India has gone from being world's second-largest arms importer between 2015 and 2019 to securing a place in the list of the top 25 arms exporter nations

India's defence industry clocked the highest-ever defence exports of $2.5 billion in financial year 2023-24 (FY24), growing 25 per cent from $2 billion in FY23, revealed the Economic Survey 2023-24 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday in the Lok Sabha.

Citing Ministry of Defence (MoD) data, the Survey also revealed that FY24's figure for exports of military equipment and systems showed an over 12-fold growth compared to FY17's figure of $0.2 billion.

"Between 2015 and 2019, India held the distinction of being the world's second-largest arms importer. The narrative, however, has changed. India has transitioned from an arms importer and found a place in the list of the top 25 arms exporter nations," said the Survey, adding, "India's defence production grew substantially from Rs 74,054 crore in FY17 to Rs 108,684 crore (Rs 1.09 trillion) in FY23, boosting defence exports."

 

According to the latest MoD data, India's annual defence production hit a record high of almost Rs 1.27 trillion in FY24, up 16.7 per cent over the previous year's figure of about Rs 1.09 trillion.

The Survey credited "tremendous efforts" by both the private defence sector and defence public sector undertakings for achieving "the highest-ever defence exports".

The other reason for the jump in defence exports cited by the Survey was that the number of export authorisations issued to defence exporters increased to 1,507 in FY24, from 1,414 in FY23, clocking a growth of about 6.6 per cent year-on-year.

"About 100 domestic companies are exporting a wide range of defence products and equipment, such as aircraft like Dornier-228, artillery guns, Brahmos missiles, PINAKA rockets and launchers, radars, simulators, and armoured vehicles," said the Survey.

The Survey also said that over the past ten years, the government has given defence exports a push through several policy initiatives, including simplifying export procedures and making them industry-friendly, and reducing delays and facilitating ease of doing business through end-to-end online export authorisation.

"The 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiatives have helped the country by encouraging indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment, thereby reducing dependency on imports in the long run," added the Survey.

The Economic Survey is an annual document presented by the Centre ahead of the Union Budget to review the state of the economy.

Rising defence exports. Source: Economic Survey 2023-24 & Ministry of Defence