Defence exports have touched a record ₹21,083 crore (approximately US$ 2.63 Billion) in the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24, a growth of 32.5 per cent over the last fiscal when the figure was ₹15,920 crore. The recent figures indicate that the defence exports have grown by 31 times in the last 10 years as compared to FY 2013-14.

The defence Industry, including the private sector and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), have made tremendous efforts in achieving the highest-ever defence exports. The private sector and the DPSUs have contributed about 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.

In addition, there has been a rise in the number of export authorisations issued to the defence exporters during FY 2023-24. From 1,414 export authorisations in FY 2022-23, the number jumped to 1,507 in FY 2023-24.

A comparative data of two decades i.e. the period from 2004-05 to 2013-14 and 2014-15 to 2023-24 reveals that there has been a growth of 21 times in the defence exports. Total defence exports during 2004-05 to 2013-14 were ₹4,312 crore, which has gone up to ₹88,319 crore in the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24.

The remarkable growth has been achieved due to the policy reforms and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ initiatives brought in by the Government, in addition to the end-to-end digital solution provided to the Indian industries for promoting defence exports. This growth is a reflection of global acceptability of Indian defence products and technologies.

Through a post on X, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated all stakeholders on crossing the new milestone in defence exports.

Delighted to inform everyone that the Indian Defence Exports have scaled to unprecedented heights and crossed Rs 21000 crore mark for the first time in the history of Independent India!

India’s defence exports have recahed to the level of Rs.21,083 Crore in the financial year…

— Rajnath Singh (???? ?? ??????) (@rajnathsingh) April 1, 2024