India is a major defence exporter today

Organizing such a massive Aero India 2023 show and ensuring as many as 32 Defence Ministers and Air Chiefs of 29 countries and 73 CEOs of global and Indian OEMs attend the five-day event, is no mean achievement for a country that was heavily dependent on exports and was in fact , in dire need of effective decision-making on defence purchases till 2014. The Narendra Modi government ensured a 360 degree turn and drove India’s development trajectory in the defence sector upwards. India set to sign 251 MoUs, and receiving 75,000 crore worth of investments during the five-day event. Measured by any yardstick, this is something to cheer about for every Indian. Prime Minister Narendra Modi while inaugurating the five-day event declared that India has emerged as the biggest defence exporter, presumably after the US and China. According to him, the country’s defence ecosystem is significantly spreading and its exports have jumped by 334% during the last five years which involves supplies of arsenals to more than 75 countries around the globe. With collaborative efforts, India had also taken several policy initiatives in the past few years to amplify its indigenous design, development, and manufacture of defence equipment, to make world-class military apparatus. The Indian Defence sector, which is the second largest armed force, is now at the cusp of a major revolution. India exported around Rs 1,387 crore worth of defence-related arsenal and software during the first quarter of the financial year 2022-23 (April-June). Further, the country’s defence and technology-related exports touched the highest-ever figure of Rs 12,815 crore in the financial year 2021-22, a 54.1 per cent rise over the previous year. The exports in the financial year 2022 were almost eight times what they were about five years back. The country’s defense exports were worth Rs 8,434 crore in 2020-21, Rs 9,115 crore in 2019-20, and Rs 2,059 crore in 2015-16. Interestingly these exports include the mighty US too, besides the Philippines and other countries in South-East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In the past few years, the Modi government has taken various policy initiatives to encourage indigenous manufacturing of defense equipment, thereby promoting self-reliance in defense manufacturing & technology. The slew of initiatives includes priority to the procurement of capital items from domestic sources under Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020, the announcement of 18 major defense platforms for industry-led design and development, liberalization of foreign direct investment (FDI) policy allowing 74 percent investment under the automatic route, among several others. To minimize import by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), the Department of Defence Production (DDP) has notified three Positive Indigenisation Lists (PIL) of sub-systems/assemblies/sub-assemblies/ components. The first list contains 2,851 items out of which 2,500 items have already been indigenized. The second list consists of 107 strategically important Line Replacement Units/major sub-assemblies. Strategic defence products including Light Tanks, Helicopters, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are part of the indigneous list for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timelines indicated against them. Importantly, two defense industrial corridors have been established — one each in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to bolster indigenous manufacturing. Interestingly, the Defence Ministry had also set a target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore of defence production by 2025, which will include export of Rs 35,000 crore. The major role in achieving this goal with a contribution of 70-80 percent would be done by India’s Defence Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). The real turnaround that the Modi government has brought in just eight years is not only amazing but stunning to even superpowers like the US, China, and France, to name a few. It sends a strong message to them how India is growing in this field globally.