NEW DELHI: The government’s Make-in-India push in indigenous defence production seems to be bearing positive results as the two Indian Defence Public Sector Undertakings, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), have improved upon their previous rankings among the arms producing companies of the world.
The Sweden-based independent international institute Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament, in its latest report on the top 100 arms producing and military services company 2021 has placed the HAL and BEL in the list of top 100 companies worldwide to supply arms, totaling to $5.1 billion in 2021. Aerospace and defence manufacturing Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) HAL and BEL, also a DPSU, which is an aerospace and defence electronics company are ranked at 42nd and 63rd in the ranking respectively.
The two companies saw an increase of 1.9 per cent in their total arms sales for 2021. Individually, HAL’s sales increased by 6.7 per cent while BEL’s 20 per cent. They were ranked 43 and 69 in 2020.
The think tank attributed this raise in their rankings due to major orders placed by the Indian armed forces in the recent year. The Ordnance Factory Board which had made into the list in 2020, could not get place this time because of restructuring in its organisation.
Interestingly SIPRI included a Taiwanese firm for the first time in the top 100. NCSIST has been ranked 60th. It specialises in missiles and military electronics and recorded arms sales of $2 billion in 2021.
China has a total of eight companies listed in the top 100, and among them four companies are ranked among the top 10. Their total sale of the arms was worth $109 billion in 2021, an increase of 6.3 per cent against the previous year.
India’s long standing defence supplier Russia has its six companies in top 100 with three having recorded a decrease in their arms sales, while the other three recorded an increase. The report mentions that one of the Russian companies which saw an increase of 18 per cent in its sales “can be partly attributed to growth in its foreign sales, most likely to India.”
The combined arms sales of these six companies grew by 0.4 per cent to reach $17.8 billion in 2021.
The overall leader has been companies belonging to the US with a share of 51 per cent of the total arms sales. The US companies are followed by the Chinese companies.