The government is considering liberalisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in the defence sector to further attract overseas investors, an official said on Monday. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is holding stakeholder consultations on the subject. "Some easing in norms is under consideration," the official said. Currently, FDI up to 74 per cent is permitted through the automatic route, while beyond that foreign direct investment is allowed through government approval route wherever it is likely to result in access to modern technology. As per the policy, foreign investment in the sector is subject to security clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs and as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Defence. India has attracted USD 32.29 million FDI in defence industries between April 2000 and March 2026. The government has taken a series of measures to boost manufacturing in the sector. India's defence budget has increased from Rs 2.53 lakh cro
Canada-backed DSRB aims to raise $116 billion to finance defence projects, but limited commitments from major economies threaten its funding and credit-rating ambitions
OGEL validity has been increased from two to three years, while its country coverage has been expanded, barring sensitive nations and those under UN sanctions
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday virtually laid the foundation stone for five brownfield expansion projects of the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, and Yantra India Ltd, from Kolkata. Singh was accompanied by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari during the foundation laying ceremony here. The projects comprise three facilities of GRSE and two of Yantra India. Speaking on the occasion, Singh said foundation was laid for five projects worth nearly Rs 3,500 crore in West Bengal. "The state will take steps to usher in a new renaissance of development. The news of closures and lockouts of factories in West Bengal has now been replaced by the launch of new projects," he said. As part of its capacity expansion, GRSE has signed lease agreements with the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata (SMPK) for two small shipyards on either bank of the Hooghly, along with a 32-acre riverside property at Raichak, to enhance its capabilities in warship construction and refit, a
Military projects worth over Rs 8.75 lakh crore have been approved in the last one year as the government is committed to modernise the armed forces to bolster India's combat capabilities, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday. In a message to the armed forces on the eve of Independence Day, Singh also said that India has emerged as a major power in global defence manufacturing, with exports of military hardware surging to Rs 38,424 crore in 2025-26 driven by a significant push toward indigenous production. "The government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is according the highest priority to the modernisation of the defence forces driven by a self-reliant and future-ready defence sector," Singh said. Highlighting the "transformative shift" in the defence sector in the last 12 years, Singh asserted that India has become a nation which is effectively catering to its own security needs, while emerging as a global defence manufacturing hub and a net defence
Only three of India's 16 public sector arms manufacturers meet global benchmarks
The index witnessed a mixed trend, with 12 constituents posting gains. The combined market capitalisation of the companies stood at over ₹11.5 trillion for the second straight month
The country is modernising its nuclear arsenal, having slightly expanded it in 2025, a Sipri report says
The two-seat configuration is expected to support a wider range of operational roles, including long-range strike missions and complex battlefield management
In a major boost to India's defence capabilities, the DRDO has successfully completed the final development trials of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3 in both air-to-ground and air-to-air modes, officials said on Tuesday. The trials were conducted at a DRDO test range near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh using an integrated ground control system (GCS) to command and control the ULPGM weapon system, the defence ministry said. The GCS features state-of-the-art technologies to automate readiness and launch operations, it said. "The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully completed the final deliverable configuration development trials of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Launched Precision Guided Missile (ULPGM)-V3 in air-to-ground and air-to-air modes," the ministry said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO, PSUs, defence-cum-production partners and industry stakeholders for the successful development trials of ...
Analysts warned that Beijing may try to reunify Taiwan with mainland China by force if peaceful methods fail
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said that while the three branches of the armed forces are well-trained and excel in their jobs, they are also protective of their turfs
Here are the news in briefs from defence sector as featured in Blueprint's May 2026 edition
India has repeatedly demonstrated the operational requirement for CSAR capability while repeatedly discovering the institutional gap between that requirement and available resources
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius in Berlin on Wednesday. They discussed security and defence issues
Private players call for the government to identify 'national champions' in defence buying
From Poland's HPM shield to US missile tests, recent defence developments signal rising global militarisation, technological competition and growing security concerns across regions.
The stealth frigate represents India's significant advancement in indigenous warship design and construction
The defence ministry on Friday said three flight-trials of a very short-range air defence missile system were conducted successfully from Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. It said the trials were carried out to "revalidate" the capability of the VSHORADS (Very Short-Range Air Defence System) missile system in neutralising high-speed threats flying at varying speed, range, and altitude. The VSHORADS is a man-portable air defence system designed and developed indigenously by Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in collaboration with other DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organisation) laboratories and Indian industry partners. "During all the flight-tests, the missiles intercepted and destroyed the high-speed aerial targets mimicking enemy aircraft in various threat scenarios meeting all extreme engagement points," the ministry said in a statement. "The tests were carried out in final deployment configuration, where target acquisition and missile firing were carried out by field ...
The latest defence developments around the world, as featured in the Blueprint magazine's February 2026 edition