On Friday, the defence minister Rajnath Singh said that India’s defence exports stood at a record ₹14,000 crore in 2021-22.
He attributed this feat as the outcome of the government’s policies to boost the export of military hardware to friendly foreign countries.
Increased Defence Exports
Saying that defence exports have now crossed ₹14,000 crore as compared to ₹900 crore in 2014, minister said that “by 2023, defence exports will cross ₹19,000 crore and we are well on course to achieve the target of ₹25,000 crore worth of exports by 2025.”
With Centre’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, he said that India has joined mainstream of manufacturing and is now producing indigenous aircraft carriers such as INS Vikrant.
He said, the government’s focus is on increasing participation of the private sector for their as well as the nation’s growth while inviting foreign companies to ‘Make in India, Make for the World’.
In order to promote self-reliance, the Ministry of Defence has issued positive indigenisation lists of over 3,700 items including components/line replacement units for defence public sector units, and 310 other defence related items.
Indian Exports Increased by Six-Folds
As per the data provided by defence ministry, between a period of 4 years between 2017 and 2021, the India’s defence exports recorded nearly a six-fold increase to ₹8,435 crore from ₹1,520 crore.
Saying that India has become the fifth largest economy with a GDP of $3.5 trillion in the last 8.5 years, he also commended the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for the welfare of the nation.
He said that “Before 2014, India was among the ‘Fragile Five’ nations, a word coined investment firm Morgan Stanley. Today, we have moved out of that category and joined the ‘Fabulous Five’ economies of the world. According to a recently published article on the global economic outlook by Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Chetan Ahya, India will be the third largest economy after the US and China by 2027. India’s GDP will increase to USD 8.5 trillion in the next ten years. This clearly shows that India has become a centre of hope and confidence for the world”.
Singh added that due to the country’s strong economic condition, there has been a record foreign direct investment (FDI) despite COVID-19. He said 2021-22 recorded the highest ever FDI at $83.6 billion. India will become one of the most powerful nations in the times to come, he said.
