By Manal Abdel Fattah
Indian defense exports achieved a growth of 32.5% during the current fiscal year, with a value exceeding for the first time US$ 2.51 billion, or about 210 billion Indian rupees, as the country focuses on strengthening the domestic manufacturing environment for defense equipment and boosting exports.
Recently conducted statistics indicate that defense exports have achieved a 31-fold growth over the past ten years compared to the fiscal year 2013-2014.
The private sector and public sector projects contributed to the field of defense by approximately 60% and 40%, respectively, and the number of export licenses increased from 1,414 during the fiscal year 2022-2023 to 1,507 during the fiscal year 2023-2024.
India has set a defense export target of US$4.18 billion [INR 350 billion] by 2024-25, and the country currently exports military equipment to about 85 countries, through nearly 100 companies.
Exports include rocket-propelled grenades, cannons, missiles, armored vehicles, maritime patrol vessels, personal protective equipment, a variety of radars, surveillance systems and ammunition.
India produces various types of weapons systems including Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), various types of helicopters, warships, tanks, guns, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and a variety of military vehicles and ammunition.
