New Delhi: Defence exports from India have touched an all-time high of Rs 21,083 crore in the financial year 2023-2024, with consignments reaching 85-plus countries in neighbourhood and beyond.
On Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that Indian defence exports have crossed the Rs 21,000-crore mark for the first time since Independence. This, he added, was a growth of 32.5 percent over the previous fiscal.
Delighted to inform everyone that the Indian Defence Exports have scaled to unprecedented heights and crossed Rs 21000 crore mark for the first time in the history of Independent India!
India’s defence exports have recahed to the level of Rs.21,083 Crore in the financial year…
— Rajnath Singh (मोदी का परिवार) (@rajnathsingh) April 1, 2024
Defence exports stood at Rs 15,920 crore in the financial year 2022-23. Total defence exports during 2004-2005 to 2013-14 were Rs 4,312 crore, which has gone up to Rs 88,319 crore in the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24.
Singh underlined the role of the private sector as well as the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) in achieving this milestone. “The private sector and the DPSUs have contributed about 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
The Indian government has been actively providing financial assistance to its defence attaches for promoting military exports to friendly nations under a scheme since 2019. A revised version is set to be operationalised from 1 April allowing the defence attaches —with the approval from the ambassadors — to mobilise funds for promoting defence exports under ‘Brand India’.
Dornier-228 aircraft, 155 mm Advanced Towed Artillery Guns, Brahmos missiles, Akash missile system, radars, simulators, mine protected vehicles, armoured vehicles, Pinaka rockets & launchers are among the major defence platforms exported to friendly countries.
The defence hardware exports also include ammunition, thermal imagers, body armours, besides systems, line replaceable units, and parts and components of avionics and small arms.
The record comes in the backdrop of the Indian government promoting its defence equipment in Asian and African countries.
In growing sign of its expanding foreign imprint, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed an export contract with Guyana Defence Forces for supply of two Hindustan-228 aircraft in the financial year 2023-24. Both the aircraft were supplied by the leading DPSU within a month of signing of contract.
According to the 2023 SIPRI report, India accounted for 18 percent of exports to Myanmar, coming third after Russia and China. But even as defence exports have seen a substantial rise, India remains the world’s top importer of arms according to the same report.
One of the major milestones came in January 2022, when India and the Philippines signed a deal worth $375 million for the supply of shore-based anti-ship variants of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The deliveries for these missiles started early this year in January.
The same year, the HAL signed a deal with Mauritius to deliver one Advanced Light Helicopter ALH Mk-III for the island country’s police force. India’s Kalyani Group announced a $155 million export order for artillery guns, without disclosing the buyer country’s name.
Furthermore, Armenia had shown interest in procuring India’s homegrown Akash missile system. In 2022, India had signed a contract with Armenia to export the indigenous Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers, missiles and a range of ammunition.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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