Indian Defence Update: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in a recent press release, stated that India’s defence exports have reached an all-time high of Rs. 16000 Crore in FY 2022-23. It also noted that this is a 23-fold increase, highlighting India’s growth and significant advancement in the global defence manufacturing industry.
Several policy initiatives and reforms have been introduced in the past 9 years to boost India’s defence exports, the ministry stated. The expenditure on Defence procurement has also reduced from 46% of overall expenditure in 2018-19 to 36.7% in December 2022, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The press release also stressed the shift from a defence-importing nation to an exporter of various significant equipment such as the Dornier-228, artillery guns, Brahmos Missile, PINAKA rockets and launchers, radars, simulators and armoured vehicles.
It is worth noting that, Indian defence exports have reached more than 85 countries, showing the immense capability of the Indian defence industry’s design and development to the world, the ministry noted.
With over 100 firms exporting defence equipment to the world at present, India is also witnessing a great surge in the demand for its indigenous products such as the LCA-Tejas, Light Combat Helicopters, Aircraft Carriers, and MRO activities, according to PIB.
In a press release, the Press Information Bureau highlighted the push provided by the government and the simplification of export procedures with end-to-end online export authorisation curtailing delays and enforcing ease of doing business.
The ministry also stated that India’s defence production reached a significant milestone of 1 trillion rupees in FY23 with a year-on-year growth of over 12%.
The total value of defence exports stood at Rs. 1521 crore in FY2016-17 and further increased to Rs. 4682 in 2017-18. The exports surged to Rs. 10745 crore in 2018-19, after which it saw a downward trend for 2 consecutive years.
Defence exports regained momentum once again in 2021-22 and have been growing since then. It is in itself quite astounding that the MSNE sector has been playing an important role in defence manufacturing and exports in the country at large, said T. Natrajan, Additional Secretary, Department of Defence Production.
