The private sector's contribution to India's defense manufacturing has touched 22 percent, the latest data from the country's Ministry of Defence (MoD) shows.
During the financial year 2023-24, India produced military equipment worth $9 billion, out of which almost $2 billion worth of defense items were manufactured by the private sector.
In 2022-23, the overall share of private firms in India's defense production stood at 19 percent.
While the exact details of private-sector companies' share in India's military equipment manufacturing, it is believed that defense behemoths, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Adani Defense and Aerospace, and Bharat Forge, are contributing heavily to this development.
Interestingly, the jump in India's private sector share in defense manufacturing comes at a time when the South Asian nation's military exports touched record highs of $3.2 billion.
"Delighted to inform everyone that the Indian Defence Exports have scaled to unprecedented heights and crossed INR 21000 crore ($3.2 billion) mark for the first time in the history of Independent India!" Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said last week.
The federal government has set an ambitious target of $5 billion worth of military exports by 2025.