Issue

Brief
ISSUE NO. 708
MAY 2024

© 2024 Observer Research Foundation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced, copied, archived, retained or transmitted through print, speech or electronic
media without prior written approval from ORF.
India’s Defence Industry:
Achievements and Challenges
Laxman Kumar Behera
Abstract
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has launched many reforms under the
‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives to strengthen India’s moribund
defence industry. These reforms have led to some visible improvements, as evidenced
by increased defence production and exports, and a large bank of in-principle
government approvals for future domestic production. However, several challenges
persist that require urgent attention. In particular, efforts must be made to scale up
defence production to at least match the procurement budget of the armed forces
to minimise direct imports. The research and development capacity of the industry
needs significant improvement to reduce the dependence on external sources for
technology and input materials. The government must also expedite its procurement
decision-making cycle to quickly translate the reform measures into actual production
and delivery.

Attribution: Laxman Kumar Behera, “India’s Defence Industry: Achievements and Challenges,” ORF Issue
Brief No. 708, May 2024, Observer Research Foundation.

01
 S
ince assuming power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
government has made a determined attempt to strengthen the Indian
arms industry and transform the country’s image from the world’s
largest arms importer to a major exporter of defence equipment.
To realise this goal, the government has announced many reform
measures under the ‘Make in India’ initiative and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’
(self-reliant India mission). These measures cover virtually every facet of the
Indian defence economy, spanning structures, acquisition processes, industrial
regulations, and budgetary provisions. The government is optimistic that the
reform measures will act as a catalyst and help the domestic industry meet
the government’s vision of achieving a production target of INR 1,750 billion
(US$26 billion)—including exports of INR 350 billion (US$5 billion)—by 2025.1

This issue briefa examines the performance of the Indian defence industry
by assessing the key reform measures announced over the past decade. It also
assesses the significant challenges the Indian defence industry faces on its path
towards self-reliance. Essentially, it seeks to answer two crucial questions: To
what extent has the government’s goal been realised? What are the challenges
facing the Indian arms industry, which has historically been considered a
laggard?2
Introduction

a The author is grateful to The National Institute of Defense Studies (NIDS), Tokyo, where the initial
version of the Brief was presented on March 14, 2024.

3
 P
ublic sector entities have historically dominated the Indian military-
industrial complex, though emerging private players are slowly
gaining ground. The public sector has dominated production
and research and development (R&D). The major entities in the
production domain are the 16 defence public sector undertakings
(DPSUS), seven of which were converted out of the erstwhile ordnance factories
(OFs), effective October 2021.b These DPSUs function under the administrative
control of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Of the nine old DPSUs, four—Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Garden

Industry: Key Players

Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Goa Shipyard Limited, and Hindustan

Shipyard Limited—are dedicated shipyards responsible for the construction
of various types of warships for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.3 Each of
the remaining five old DPSUs has a specific domain expertise: Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (aircraft), Bharat Electronics Limited (electronics), Bharat
Dynamics Limited (missiles), Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (special alloys) and
BEML Limited (vehicles and earth moving equipment).

Apart from 16 DPSUs, the MoD also controls the key defence R&D agency,
Indian Defence

the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Established

in 1958, the DRDO is involved in developing technologies for both strategic
and conventional weapons. With a human resource base of 21,730 (including
a cadre of 6,713 scientists and engineers), and a budget of INR 238.55 billion
(approximately US$2.86 billion) in 2024-25, its R&D activities span almost all
aspects of defence technologies, including strategic and conventional missiles,
combat aircraft, tanks, gun systems, electronics, naval systems, and life sciences.

Beyond the MoD’s direct control are several government-owned entities that
are primarily commercial-oriented but also produce a few items for defence.
The most notable is Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), a public sector undertaking
(PSU) that constructed India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier. It presently
functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping
and Waterways.

Apart from the DPSUs and PSUs, there are several defence-specific joint
ventures (JVs) between the MoD-controlled entities (DPSUs or DRDO) and
foreign partners. The biggest JV in the defence domain is BrahMos Aerospace;

b The seven new DPSUs are: Munitions India Ltd (MIL), Armoured Vehicles Ltd (AVNL), Advanced
Weapons and Equipment India Ltd (AWEIL), Troop Comforts Ltd (TCL), Yantra India Ltd (YIL), India Optel
Ltd (IOL) and Gliders India Ltd (GIL).

4
 established in 1998 between DRDO and a Russian collaborator, its turnover
reached INR 33.32 billion (approximately US$415 million) in 2022-23.4

Compared to the public sector, private companies are relatively new entrants
in the defence production space. The private sector was barred from defence
production until 2001 when the defence industry was opened up. Post-
liberalisation, especially after the launch of the Make in India initiative in
2014, India’s private sector has seen remarkable growth. As of 2022-23, it has
corned about 20 percent of India’s total defence production (see Table 1) and,
as discussed later in this brief, accounts for an overwhelming share of India’s
Industry: Key Players

defence exports.

Table 1: India’s Defence Production

DPSUs OFs Other PSUs Private Total
Financial and JVs Companies Production
Year (INR (INR (INR
billion) billion) (INR billion) (INR billion) billion)
Indian Defence

2016-17 404.27 148.25 46.98 141.04 740.54

2017-18 434.64 148.29 51.80 153.47 788.20
2018-19 453.87 128.16 55.67 173.50 811.20
2019-20 476.55 92.27 62.95 158.94 790.71
2020-21 467.11 146.35 60.29 172.68 846.43
2021-22 557.90 119.13 72.22 199.20 948.45
2022-23 634.66 169.98 71.37 210.83 1086.84

Note: Financial year runs from April to March

Source: Ministry of Defence5

It is worth noting that the private sector’s involvement in defence production is

subject to the government’s approval through a process of industrial licencing.
As of April 2023, the government has issued 606 licences to 369 companies.6
Most big Indian private conglomerates, such as Tata Group, Larsen & Toubro
(L&T), Mahindra, and Bharat Forge, are involved in some form of defence
production. Some of the big-ticket items being manufactured (or their contracts
won) by the private sector include transport aircraft (Tata), artillery guns (L&T,

5
 Tata, and Bharat Forge) and Pinaka Rocket launchers (Tata and L&T), among
others. In significant orders won by the private sector recently, L&T signed two
contracts—for high-powered radar and close-in-weapon system—with the MoD
in a combined deal worth INR 133.69 billion (approximately US$1.6 billion).7

While the DPSUs, DRDO, and big private companies are the mainstays of
India’s defence production, they are supported by an ever-growing number
of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups. As of January
2023, 14,000 MSMEs and 329 startups are engaged in defence production in
Industry: Key Players

India.8

Post-liberalisation, especially
after the launch of the Make
in India initiative in 2014,
Indian Defence

India’s private sector has seen

remarkable growth. As of 2022-
23, it has corned about 20
percent of India’s total defence
production.

6
Defence Industry Reforms Under Make in
India and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

D
espite having a sprawling defence R&D and manufacturing base,
the Indian defence industry has historically been constrained
in meeting the requirements of the armed forces, forcing the
government to resort to imports. India was the biggest arms
importer in the 2019-23 period, with a 9.8 percent share in total
global arms imports. This was a marginal increase from the 2014-18 period (9.1
percent) when India was the world’s second-largest arms importer.9

The Modi government has initiated several reforms to revitalise India’s arms
production and reverse India’s import dependency. The reform measures,
which have been unleashed under the broad Make in India initiative and
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, cover the institutional, procedural, industrial,
and budgetary aspects of defence production. Some of the key measures
undertaken in the last 10 years are:

Institutional Reforms

In 2019, the government created the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), which
is touted as the most significant defence reform since independence. Though
the measure was to forge synergy in the functioning of the defence forces—
which are often accused of acting in silos—the charter of the CDS and the
newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA) under the CDS has a far-
reaching impact on defence indigenisation. Among all the responsibilities, the
CDS is also assigned the task of “promoting the use of indigenous equipment
by the Services.”10

In effect, establishing the role of the CDA/DMA makes the armed forces an
equal and integral stakeholder in indigenous armament projects by breaking
the acrimonious relations between the users on one side and the developers
and manufacturers on the other. Rising to the task, the CDS-led DMA has so
far announced five lists of over 500 items that are banned from import after a
stipulated time for each listed item. In other words, these items will eventually
be manufactured in India. These lists include several big-ticket items such as
missiles, fighter aircraft, helicopters, warships, radars, and a range of munitions.

Following the appointment of the CDS and the creation of DMA, the
government also announced the long overdue corporatisation of the OFs
that were earlier functioning as government arsenal. The decision involved
converting 41 OFs into seven distinct DPSUs. As corporate entities, the new

7
Defence Industry Reforms Under Make in
India and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
DSPUs will enjoy greater autonomy in decision-making and be accountable for
their performance. Corporatisation is also the first step for additional reforms—
which can be carried through further consolidation into fewer DPSUs or by
listing them in stock exchanges (to further improve corporate governance) or
by their privatisation, if the government so desires.

Acquisition Reforms

To deepen the domestic industry’s role in the procurement process, the

government has refined the arms procurement processes as codified in
the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) (known as Defence Procurement
Procedure before 2020). The key reform in the DAP is further rationalising
the procurement categories by prioritising domestic industry over foreign
companies. Of the five prioritised procurement categories, the domestic
industry is assigned the role of system integrators in the first three (see Table
2). In other words, for contracts awarded under these categories, foreign
companies will have a secondary role as equity partners to the Indian firms that
will be responsible for the execution of the contracts. The foreign equity varies
from a maximum of 49 percent (in the first category in which the domestic
industry is required to design and manufacture) to 74 percent (in the next
three prioritised categories).

Table 2: Prioritised Defence

Procurement Categories
Maximum FDI
Prioritised Indigenous Content (IC) Tender
allowed under
Category Requirement issued to
automatic route
Buy (Indian- Indigenous Design & IC of ≥
Indian 49%
IDDM) 50%
50% IC if Indigenous Design;
Buy (Indian) Indian 74%
Otherwise, IC of ≥ 60%
Buy and Make
≥50% IC in Make Portion Indian 74%
(Indian)
Buy (Global-
Manufacture in IC of ≥50% Foreign 74%
India)
Foreign Vendor- NIL
Foreign/ NA (Foreign);
Buy (Global)
Indian 74% (Indian)
Indian Vendor ≥30% IC
Source: Compiled from Ministry of Defence, Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020.

8
Defence Industry Reforms Under Make in
India and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
An integral part of the acquisition reform is the government’s effort to
mandate higher indigenous content (IC)—including in parts, components, raw
materials, and software—in various domestic industry-friendly procurement
categories. The minimum IC required from the first four prioritised categories
is 50 percent, significantly higher than the 30 percent demanded before the
Make in India initiative was launched. The government is also confident that
IC could be enhanced further in some categories. A clear indication of this
was provided by the Indian defence minister who, in late 2023, instructed the
CDS and the Defence Secretary to consult the industry and “work towards
increasing” the IC of Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured
(IDDM) category—the first prioritised procurement category— projects to a
minimum of 60-65 percent.11

Apart from enabling the industry to take greater responsibility for

manufacturing, the government has also tried to incentivise it to undertake
R&D, an area historically dominated by the DRDO and, to a limited extent,
by the DPSUs. The government has simplified and expanded the ‘Make’
guidelines of the DPP/DAP and launched two innovation-oriented schemes—
innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and Technology Development Fund
(TDF) (see Table 3).

Furthermore, Union Budget 2022-23 reserved 25 percent of the R&D budget

for the industry, startups, and academia.12 After the announcement, the MoD
has identified 18 major projects, the design and development of which are to be
led by the Indian industry.13

9
Defence Industry Reforms Under Make in
India and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
Table 3. Make and Innovation
Categories
Maximum FDI
allowed under
Category Features
automatic
route
Up to 70% government funding for prototype
development, subject to a maximum of INR
2.5 billion (approximately US$30 million)
Make-I 49%
per development agency. After successful
development, procurement will be through
the Buy (Indian-IDDM) route.
Self-funded by the industry for prototype
Make development. After successful development,
Make-II procurement will be through the Buy (Indian- 49%
IDDM) route. Industry can submit a suo-moto
proposal.
Primally intended for import substitution of
Make- product support of existing weapons systems.
74%
III Post successful development, procurement
through the Buy (Indian) route
Primarily intended for startups, individual
innovators and MSMEs. Innovators can
iDEX submit suo-moto proposals. Post successful 49%
development, procurement through the Buy
(Indian-IDDM) route
A scheme run by DRDO with funding support.
TDF After successful development, procurement 49%
will be through the Buy (Indian-IDDM) route.

Source: Compiled from Ministry of Defence, Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020.14

Ease of Doing Business Reform

Soon after assuming power in 2014, the Modi government took several steps
to improve the ease of doing business environment, especially for the private
sector. The government streamlined the industrial licensing process for the
private sector so that the latter could easily obtain official permissions without

10
Defence Industry Reforms Under Make in
India and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
bureaucratic hassles.15 This was soon followed by liberalising the defence foreign
direct investment (FDI) regime by enhancing the earlier foreign equity cap
from a maximum of 26 percent under the automatic route, first to 49 percent
and subsequently to 74 percent. The FDI liberalisation has led to an inflow of
INR 57 billion (approximately US$ 609 million) till 2024.16

The government has also brought out a standard operating procedure to

formalise the process of defence export authorisation; allowed the private
sector to use government-run facilities to test their equipment; launched two
defence industrial corridors; opened a single-window agency (the Defence
Investor Cell) to address investors’ queries; and announced a policy to facilitate
the indigenisation of parts and components used in platforms being produced
by the DPSUs. A dedicated web portal, SRIJAN, has also been created so that
the DPSUs and the armed forces can upload previously imported items for
indigenisation by domestic entities.

Performance of the Defence Industry

Following several reforms, the defence industry has made certain progress.
The most visible indicator of the progress is the near continuous increase in
production turnover, which reached INR 1087 billion (US$13.5 billion) in
2022-23 (see Table 1). This, in turn, indicates that the Indian industry’s growing
capability to manufacture and supply a large number of defence equipment.
Buoyed by the domestic industry’s growing capability, the MoD is increasingly
awarding complex projects to the industry, both private and public. In 2023,
the MoD signed contracts with the domestic industry for medium power
radar and an integrated electronic warfare system (Bharat Electronics), HTT-
40 basic trainer aircraft and Dornier-228 aircraft (Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited), cadre training ships (L&T), improved Akash Weapon System (Bharat
Dynamics Limited), Offshore Patrol Vessels and Missile Vessels (Goa Shipyard
Limited and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers), Fleet Support Vessels
(Hindustan Shipyard Limited), and upgraded super rapid gun mount (Bharat
Heavy Electrical Limited).17

The government’s reforms have led to a visible improvement in defence

exports, which reached an all-time high of INR 210.83 billion (approximately
US$2.63 billion) in 2023-24 (see Table 4).18 In the post-reform decade—from
2014-15 to 2023-24—defence exports totalled INR 883.19 billion (approximately
US$11 billion), representing a 21-times increase from the INR 43.12 billion

11
Defence Industry Reforms Under Make in
India and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
(approximately US$517 million) in exports in the preceding pre-reform decade
(2004-05 to 2013-14).19 Encouraged by this success, the government has set an
ambitious annual target of INR 500 billion (approximately US$6.0 billion) in
exports by 2028-29.20

Table 4: India’s Defence Exports

Export Export
SCOMET Total
Authorisations by Contract
Issued by Export
Year to Private DPSU Value (INR
DGFT (INR (INR
Companies (INR (INR billion)
billion) billion)
billion) billion)
2016-17 1.94 13.28 0.00 0.00 15.22
2017-18 31.63 15.19 0.00 0.00 46.82
2018-19 98.13 9.33 0.00 0.00 107.46
2019-20 80.08 9.05 2.03 0.00 91.16
2020-21 72.71 9.85 1.79 0.00 84.35
2021-22 59.65 3.86 0.07 64.57 128.15
2022-23 90.51 3.86 3.51 61.30 159.18
2023-24 131.40 1.09 20.90 57.65 211.05
Source: Department of Defence Production21

India is now exporting arms, ammunition, and related items to over 85

countries, with 100 Indian firms participating in international sales. Some of
the major items exported include “Dornier-228, 155 mm Advanced Towed
Artillery Guns, Brahmos Missiles, Akash Missile System, Radars, Simulators,
Mine Protected Vehicles, Armoured Vehicles, PINAKA Rockets & Launchers,
Ammunitions, Thermal Imagers, Body Armours, besides Systems, Line
Replaceable Units and Parts & components of Avionics and Small Arms.”22

Notably, most of the exports are driven by the private sector, while the DPSUs,
the mainstay in India’s defence production, have contributed little. However,
most of the private sector’s exports are in the form of parts, components,
assemblies, and sub-assemblies, with few Indian companies exporting major
systems. Among the major items exported by the private sector, Bharat Forge’s
export of 155mm artillery guns (worth US$155 million) is notable.23

12
Defence Industry Reforms Under Make in
India and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
Buoyed by the domestic industry’s achievements and to support it further,
the government has taken two crucial steps that are likely to deepen the
involvement of the domestic industry in the coming years. In a move to procure
more from the domestic industry, the government has been consistently
earmarking a greater share of its capital acquisition budget for procurement
from the domestic industry. In 2023-24, the share was raised to 75 percent, up
from 58 percent in 2021-22,24 indicating the government’s confidence in the
domestic industry’s growing ability to meet the armed forces’ requirements.

At the same time, the government is also keen to reinforce its faith in
indigenous capability. This is evident from the high-value acquisition proposal
being earmarked for execution by the Indian industry. In 2022-23, the MoD
gave the acceptance of necessity (AoN)—the official approval to begin the formal
procurement—to proposals worth INR 2710 billion (approximately US$32.5
billion), 99 percent of which is meant for procurement from the domestic
industry.25 In 2023, the value of AoN was INR 3500 billion (approximately
US$42 billion), the majority of which will eventually be manufactured in India.26
Some of the major items for which the government has accorded AoN include
light combat helicopters, light combat aircraft MK 1A, medium-range anti-ship
missiles, and the towed gun system. When these proposals, along with the 500
items identified in the positive indigenisation lists, are converted into contracts
and further into actual production by the industry, the volume and share of
the domestic industry in procurement are bound to increase substantially. The
MoD estimates that the value of the domestic defence production will reach
INR 3 trillion (approximately US$36 billion) by 2028-29.27

The government’s reforms have

led to a visible improvement in
defence exports, which reached
an all-time high of INR 210.83
billion (approximately US$2.63
billion) in 2023-24.

13
 A
lthough the Indian defence industry is now on a much better
footing, it faces several challenges. The foremost challenge
is increasing production, at least to a level that meets India’s
procurement requirements. Despite the government’s efforts
and an ambitious production target of US$26 billion by 2025,
production has not grown significantly enough to meet the annual procurement
requirements of the armed forces. As Figure 1 shows, the domestic share in
the armed forces’ capital acquisition has hardly increased from 2014-15, the
year the Make in India initiative was launched. The slow progress in India’s
defence production and an ever-increasing procurement budget have ensured
that India remains dependent on external sources for critical defence hardware
requirements.

Figure 1: Capital Acquisition by

Armed Forces (Domestic and Foreign)
1000.00 63 66 64 64 64 70
63 62
900.00 59
54 60
800.00 51
700.00 50
600.00
INR billion

40
500.00

%
400.00 30
Challenges

300.00 20
304.94

200.00
396.36

495.32

537.67

549.51

505.08
527.19
303.71

378.56

292.22

499.88
261.90

334.13

429.74

446.18

507.09

482.70
637.85

886.32

100.00 873.56 10

0.00 0
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22

Domes�c Procurement (INR billion) Foreign Procurement (INR billion)

Share of Domes�c Procurement (%)

Source: Extrapolated from Standing Committee on Defence, Demands for Grants 2023-24. 28

14
 On the export front, despite registering a noticeable increase in international
arms sales, the industry is way off the target set by the government. The biggest
challenge in meeting the government’s export target comes from the DPSUS,
which have been slow in rising to expectations. Some recent attempts to export
major systems have not met with success. For instance, Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited, the biggest defence company in India, could not win an international
competition for its light combat aircraft Tejas fighter in Malaysia, which selected
a Korean alternative.29 Previously, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers
lost a big tender in the Philippines, indicating the difficulties faced by the
DPSUs in arms exports.30

Second, the Indian defence industry, despite having a large production

and R&D base, lacks the technological depths to design/manufacture major
systems and critical parts, components, and raw materials, which are eventually
imported. The lack of technological depth is also one of the reasons why the
Indian government still prefers to licence manufacture many major systems.
Notably, licencing manufacturing has an overwhelming share of 58 percent
in India’s defence procurement, indicating the extent of India’s external
dependency.31

Third, although the Modi government has announced many reforms to

revitalise domestic production, many are yet to be implemented in full letter
and spirit. This has created a condition where the time between reform
announcements and their translation to actual contract, production, and
delivery is unduly prolonged. Given India’s bureaucratic system, overcoming
Challenges

the delays in implementation will remain a key challenge in the foreseeable

future.

15
 T
he reform measures launched by the Modi government under
the Make in India initiative and the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
have begun to positively impact the Indian defence industry,
as seen in its growing production and exports. Furthermore,
with the government reserving a large bank of projects for
production in India, the impact will likely intensify in the coming years.

Although the Indian defence industry’s reforms-driven performance is

encouraging, certain challenges need to be overcome to enable the industry to
achieve higher self-reliance. Defence production needs to be augmented to a
level that at least matches India’s growing procurement to avoid direct imports.
The industry’s R&D capacity needs improvement to deepen indigenisation
and avoid imports, both direct and indirect. There is also a need to expedite
the defence procurement decision-making process to facilitate the industry in
manufacturing and supplying arms in the shortest possible timeframe.
Conclusion

Laxman Kumar Behera is Associate Professor at the Special Centre for National Security
Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

16
 1 Ministry of Defence, “Draft Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP)
2020,” https://www.ddpmod.gov.in/sites/default/files/DraftDPEPP.pdf.

2 For a comprehensive review of India’s defence industry, See Laxman Kumar Behera,
Indian Defence Industry: An Agenda for Making in India (Pentagon Press: New Delhi,
2016); Laxman Kumar Behera, India’s Defence Economy: Planning, Budgeting, Industry
and Procurement, “Chapter 4: Towards a Vibrant Defence Industrial Base,” (Routledge:
London, 2021); Laxman Kumar Behera, “The State of India’s Public Sector Defence
Industry,” ORF Occasional Paper No 419, October 2019, https://www.orfonline.org/public/
uploads/posts/pdf/20231026130405.pdf; Laxman Kumar Behera, “Examining India’s
Defence Innovation Performance,” Journal of Strategic Studies, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1080
/01402390.2021.1993829.

3 For an analysis of India’s naval shipbuilding, see Laxman Kumar Behera and S.N. Misra,
“India’s Naval Shipbuilding Industry: Key Gaps and Policy Options,” Defence Studies, Vol.
12, No. 3, 2012, pp. 434-451.

4 BrahMos Aerospace, “Annual Return for the year 2023”. https://www.brahmos.com/

download/Annual-Return23.pdf.

5 Ministry of Defence, “Dashboard,” https://ddpdashboard.gov.in/DefenceProduction/

Defence_Production.

6 Press Information Bureau, “Defence Industrial Corridor,” April 03, 2023.

7 Press Information Bureau, “Another major boost to Atmanirbharta in defence: Ministry

of Defence signs five major capital acquisition contracts worth Rs 39,125.39 crore,” March
01, 2024.

8 Standing Committee on Defence, Demands for Grants 2023-24, 35th Report, p. 45.

9 Pieter D. Wezeman et al., “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2023,” SIPRI Fact
Sheet, March 2024, https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/fs_2403_at_2023.pdf.
Endnotes

10 Press Information Bureau, “Cabinet approves creation of the post of Chief of Defence
Staff in the rank of four star General,” December 24, 2019.

11 Press Information Bureau, “Another boost to Atmanirbharata in Defence,” September 15,

2023.

12 Ministry of Finance, “Budget 2022-23: Speech of Nirmala Sitharaman,” https://www.

indiabudget.gov.in/budget2022-23/index.php

13 Press Information Bureau, “Ministry of Defence identifies 18 major platforms for industry
led design and development,” March 11, 2022.

14 Ministry of Defence, Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020.

15 Laxman Kumar Behera, “Indian Defence Industry: Issues of Self Reliance,” IDSA
Monograph Series No 21, July 2013, pp. 73-78

17
 16 Lok Sabha, “FDI in Defence Sector,”, Unstarred Question No. 1228, Answered on
February 09, 2024.

17 Press information Bureau, “Ministry of Defence- Year End Review 2023,” December 22,
2023.

18 For a review of India’s defence exports, see Laxman Kumar Behera, “Made in India: an
aspiring brand in global arms bazaar,” Defense & Security Analysis, Vol. 38, Issue 3, 2022,
pp. 336-348.

19 Press Information Bureau, “Defence exports touch record Rs 21,083 crore in FY 2023-24,
an increase of 32.5% over last fiscal; Private sector contributes 60%, DPSUs -40%,” April
01, 2024.

20 Press Information Bureau, “India's defence stronger than ever as the Govt is bolstering it
with Indianness: Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh,” March 07, 2024.

21 Department of Defence Production, “Dashboard,” https://ddpdashboard.gov.in/

DefenceExport/Defence_Exports.

22 Press Information Bureau, “Ministry of Defence – Year End Review 2023,” December 22,
2023.

23 “Bharat Forge arm gets $1550 order to export artillery guns,” The Times of India,
November 10, 2022.

24 Press Information Bureau, “Record 75 per cent of defence capital procurement budget
earmarked for domestic industry in FY 2023-24,” February 15, 2023; Ministry of Finance,
“Budget 2022-23: speech of Nirmala Sitharaman.”

25 Press Information Bureau, “Defence Acquisition Council approves proposals worth Rs

70,500 crore for the armed forces,” March 16, 2023.
Endnotes

26 Press Information Bureau, “Ministry of Defence – Year End Review 2023,” December 22,
2023.

27 Press Information Bureau, ““Rs three lakh crore annual defence production & Rs 50,000
crore exports expected by 2028-29: Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh,” February 24,
2024.

28 Standing Committee on Defence, Demands for Grants 2023-24, 37th Report, p. 23

29 Huma Siddiqui, “HAL loses Malaysian LCA contract to South Korea’s KAI,” Financial
Express, March 20, 2023, https://www.financialexpress.com/business/defence-hal-loses-
malaysian-lca-contract-to-south-koreas-kai-3016010/.

30 Laxman Kumar Behera, “Made in India: an aspiring brand in global arms bazaar,” p. 345.

31 Lucie Béraud-Sudreau et.al “Arms-Production Capabilities in the Indo-Pacific Region,”

SIPRI, October 2022, p. 16.

Images used in this paper are from Getty Images/Busà Photography.

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