India’s defence exports have reached an all-time high worth nearly Rs 16,000 crore in 2022-23, surging from a mere Rs 686 crore in 2013-14.
This 23-fold increase reflects India’s progress in the global defence manufacturing sector. “With exports reaching more than 85 countries, India’s defence industry has shown its capability of design and development to the world, with 100 firms exporting defence products at present,” said a Government release on May 30.
To give a push to defence exports, the Government has taken a number of policy initiatives and brought reforms over the last nine years. Export procedures have been simplified and made industry-friendly with end-to-end online export authorisation and curtailing delays to bring in Ease of Doing Business.
Further, the self-reliant India call or ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives have helped the country by encouraging indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment in the country, thereby reducing dependency on imports in the long run.
The release said that the expenditure on defence procurement from foreign sources has reduced from 46 per cent of overall expenditure in 2018-19 to 36.7 per cent in December 2022.
India, once known primarily as a defence equipment importer, now exports a wide range of major platforms, including aircraft like the Dornier-228, artillery guns, Brahmos Missiles, PINAKA rockets and launchers, radars, simulators, armoured vehicles. The global demand for India’s indigenous products, such as the LCA-Tejas, Light Combat Helicopters, Aircraft Carriers, and MRO activities, is also on the rise, it added.
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