India’s overall defense exports have hit an all-time high of $1.93 billion in 2022-23, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh announced on Saturday.
The minister expressed hope that New Delhi’s defense exports would surge further under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Commenting on the feat, Prime Minister Modi said that rising defense exports reflected India’s “talent” and enthusiasm towards the ‘Make in India’ policy.
“It also shows the reforms in this sector over the last few years are delivering good results. Our government will keep supporting efforts to make India a defence production hub,” the prime minister stated.
India’s Falling Defense Import Bill
India has consistently ranked as the biggest importer of defense equipment globally, as per Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
For its part, Russia has consistently ranked as India's biggest supplier of weapons and one of the chief exporters of defense-related technologies to India.
India’s massive defense requirements are necessitated by the country sharing disputed borders with China and Pakistan as well as its naval aspiration to become a “net provider” of security in the Asia-Pacific region.
In recent years, New Delhi has been aiming to achieve self-reliance in defense manufacturing through developing home-grown technologies as well as signing transfer of technology pacts with foreign firms. Under Prime Minister Modi, the government has also redoubled efforts to make India a major export hub.
In a bid to boost domestic arms industry, the Indian Ministry of Defense has published four “Positive Indigenisation Lists’ since 2020 which mandate the procurement of over 421 defense equipment as well as 3,000 components and sub-systems only through Indian companies.
Consequently, the latest SIPRI report this year claimed that Delhi’s defense imports have declined by around 11 percent in the 2018-22 period vis-à-vis 2013-17.