Opinion | Make In India’s Defence: Modi Turned India From An Import Dependent Nation To Arms Supplier

The government has set a target of Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports by 2029

Got Question about the News?

Ten years ago, India barely figured as a seller of weapons. Ministry of Defence data puts exports in 2016-17 at Rs 1,521 crore.

By 2025-26, the number had reached Rs 38,424 crore, a 62.66 per cent increase in a single year, with exports roughly tripling over the past five years. Rajnath Singh, announcing the figures in April, called them evidence of “growing global trust in India’s indigenous capabilities."

'India Will No Longer Tolerate Nuclear Blackmail': Rajnath Singh Hails Op Sindoor At News18 DEFCON 2026

Opinion | Modi At 76: The Year India Became An Arms Exporter

India's Subtle Warning To US? MEA Says Russia Sanctions Bill Could Have ‘Implications’ For Bilateral Ties

Iran's Economy Shrinks By 10.1% Amid US War: 'Strait' Talk Amid Hormuz Blockade, Oil & Gas Losses

His ministry credits Make in India and the self-reliance policies of the past decade.

STILL A MAJOR IMPORTER

None of this has ended India’s dependence on foreign arms. SIPRI’s figures for 2021-25 place India second only to Ukraine among importers of major weapons, and its imports in that period were just 4 per cent lower than in 2016-20. The supplier list, however, looks very different. In 2011-15, Russia accounted for 70 per cent of India’s major arms imports. Its share is now 40 per cent, with France and Israel filling much of the gap. The big ticket items still come from abroad: fighter jets, engines and long-range air defence systems.

One of the early changes was to open up defence manufacturing through licensing. In 2015-16, the government had given out 258 industrial licences for defence manufacturing. By March 2026, the Ministry of Defence’s annual report put the number at 834. India now........

© News18