India’s defence exports soar to record high of Rs 23,622 crore in 2024-25
Defence exports have surged to a record high of Rs 23,622 crore (approximately. USD 2.76 billion) in the 2024-25 financial year, marking a yearly growth of 12 per cent. During the previous fiscal, defence exports stood at Rs 21,083 crore. India has set a defence export of Rs 50,000 crore by 2029.
The Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) have shown a significant increase of 42.85 per cent in their exports in 2024-25, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday.
The private sector and DPSUs have contributed Rs 15,233 crore and Rs 8,389 crore, respectively, in defence exports during 2024-25, whereas the corresponding figures for 2023-24 were Rs 15,209 crore and Rs 5,874 crore, respectively.
India has evolved from a largely import-dependent military force to the one increasingly focused on self-reliance and indigenous production. In a major boost to defence exports, wide range of items from ammunition, arms, sub-systems and components have been exported to around 80 countries in the just-concluded financial year.
The Department of Defence Production has a dedicated portal for application and processing of export requests, and 1,762 export authorisations were issued in 2024-25 as compared to 1,507 in the preceding year, registering a growth of 16.92 per cent. The total number of exporters also grew by 17.4 per cent in the same period.
The ministry’s statement said that many policy reforms have been brought-in by the government in the past few years to boost the Indian defence industry, such as simplification of industrial licensing procedure, removal of parts and components from licence regime, extending the validity period of licence, etc.
In addition, standard operating procedures for the grant of export authorisation was further simplified and more provisions were added in the last financial year to boost exports from the country.
