Indian arms exports touch record Rs 21,083 cr in FY24: Ministry of Defence

Private sector and DPSUs contributed about 60 per cent and 40 per cent of FY24's defence exports, respectively

India's defence exports touched a record Rs 21,083 crore (approximately $2.63 billion) in the financial year (FY) 2023-24, amounting to a growth of 32.5 per cent over the previous financial year's figure of Rs 15,920 crore, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Monday in a press release. 

The MoD said that the recent figures indicate that defence exports have grown by 31 times in the past 10 years, when compared to FY14.

The release said that the domestic defence industry, including both the private sector and defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs), made tremendous efforts towards achieving the "highest-ever defence exports".

According to the MoD, the private sector and DPSUs contributed about 60 per cent and 40 per cent of the defence exports, respectively.

In addition, the MoD release said that there has been a rise in the number of export authorisations issued to defence exporters during FY24. From 1,414 export authorisations in FY23, the number jumped to 1,507 in FY24.

The ministry also said that comparing data from two decades -- the period from 2004-05 to 2013-14 and 2014-15 to 2023-24 -- revealed a growth of 21 times in defence exports. Total defence exports during 2004-05 to 2013-14 stood at Rs 4,312 crore, which has gone up to Rs 88,319 crore in the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24.

The ministry said that this "remarkable growth" was achieved due to policy reforms and the 'Ease of Doing Business' initiatives brought in by the Centre, in addition to the end-to-end digital solutions provided to domestic industries for promoting defence exports.

The MoD added that this growth was a reflection of the "global acceptability" of India's defence products and technologies.

Through a post on microblogging platform X, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated all stakeholders on crossing the new milestone in defence exports.

Ambitious targets set 

In February this year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that India's annual defence production was expected to touch Rs 3 trillion by 2028-29, while exports of military hardware could reach Rs 50,000 crore.

Singh had added that even high-end systems, from aero-engines to gas turbines, would be produced within the country in the next five years.

The defence minister's remarks came during his address at a defence conclave.

Speaking at another defence summit in March, Defence Minister Singh said, "The annual defence production, which was around Rs 40,000 crore in 2014, has now crossed a record Rs 1.10 trillion. The defence exports today have touched Rs 16,000 crore, from a meagre Rs 1,000 crore nine-ten years ago."

Back then, Singh had once again reiterated the target of Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports by 2028-29.

India still world's biggest arms importer despite 'aatmanirbharta' push

India was the world's biggest arms importer in 2019–23, with a 9.8 per cent share of all arms imports, according to the Swedish think-tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

India's major arms imports were driven by tensions with Pakistan and China.

The think-tank's March 2024 Trends in International Arms Transfers report said that India's arms imports had increased by 4.7 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23.

While Russia remained India's main supplier of arms, its share of Indian arms imports shrunk from 76 per cent in 2009–13 to 36 per cent in 2019–23.

The report said that India was instead looking to Western suppliers, "most notably France and the US", and "its own arms industry" to meet its military requirements.

The report also revealed that arms imports by Pakistan jumped 43 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, accounting for 4.3 per cent of the world total. Pakistan was thus the fifth-largest arms importer globally.

Apart from India and Pakistan, the other countries on SIPRI's top five arms importers in 2019–23 list were Saudi Arabia (2nd), Qatar (3rd), and Ukraine (4th).

(With agency inputs)