- India
- Aug 17
India’s domestic defence production reaches record Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26
• India has become a nation which is effectively catering to its own security needs, while emerging as a global defence manufacturing hub and a net defence exporter, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a message to the Armed Forces.
• India has emerged as a major power in global defence manufacturing, with exports of military hardware surging to Rs 38,424 crore in 2025-26 driven by a significant push toward indigenous production.
• The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has granted approval to projects worth more than Rs 8.75 lakh crore in the last one year as the government is determined to modernise the military.
• India’s defence landscape has undergone a significant shift towards greater domestic capability, technological sophistication and operational resilience.
• Indigenous development now spans ammunition, missiles, propulsion, air defence and naval platforms, supported by stronger government-industry collaboration.
Other points highlighted by Rajnath Singh:
• The defence budget rose from Rs 2.53 lakh crore in 2013-14 to Rs7.85 lakh crore in 2026-27.
• Defence exports are reaching over 80 countries.
• The private sector contributed Rs 17,353 crore or 45.16 per cent of defence exports in FY 2025-26, while defence Public Sector Undertakings contributed Rs 21,071 crore or 54.84 per cent.
• The government targets Rs 3 lakh crore in annual defence production and Rs 50,000 crore in exports by 2029.
• Since 2022-23, about 25 per cent of the defence R&D budget has been opened to industry, startups and academia.
• The Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) scheme, with a Rs 498.78 crore outlay, engaged 676 startups, MSMEs, and innovators, resulting in 551 design and development contracts as of March 2026.
• Technology Development Fund scheme provides grants of up to Rs 50 crore for critical defence technology development. As of June 2026, as many as 80 projects worth Rs 334 crore were under implementation, with an additional Rs 500 crore corpus sanctioned for deep technology and emerging technologies.