Indian weapons being exported to over 90 countries: Rajnath Singh

Indian Armed Forces are using weapons “manufactured on our own soil” and the nation is also exporting defence items to “more than ninety friendly foreign countries”, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Narendra Modi government’s Make in India initiative.

Singh took to social media to point out how the government under PM Modi’s “astute leadership” had introduced the Make in India programme with a vision to make India self-reliant in every domain.

“The Government under PM Shri @narendramodi’s astute leadership introduced ‘Make in India’ programme with a vision to make India self-reliant in every domain. @makeinindia,” the Union Minister of Defence wrote on his official X handle, @rajnathsingh.

“Ten years since then, many reforms have been made in every sector including the defence sector. India is rising on the defence industrial landscape of the world,” Singh added.

“Today, Indian Armed Forces are using weapons and platforms, which are manufactured on our own soil and we also exporting defence items to more than ninety friendly foreign countries,” his post said.

The Narendra Modi government has been particular about improving India’s domestic defence manufacturing capability over the past decade, and the outcome is the nation now has enough production capacity to make weapons for export.

India’s annual defence production reached a record high of Rs 1.27 lakh crore in 2023-’24 (FY24), surging 16.7 per cent from the year-on-year figure of Rs 1.09 lakh crore, a Ministry of Defence statement revealed earlier this year.

The country’s defence exports surpassed Rs 21,000 crore in FY24, and media reports state the defence ministry’s export goal is Rs 50,000 crore for the next five years.

India is also among the biggest arms importers in the world, and the government is estimated to have allocated a five-year budget of $130 billion for buying weapons.

However, with growing manufacturing capacity, the government plans to minimise military imports. Overall, the defence ministry’s target turnover for manufacturing is Rs 1.75 lakh crore over five years.