NEW DELHI: India's defence exports have set a new benchmark with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) stating on Monday that it crossed Rs 21,000 crore in FY 2023-24. The year also saw an increase in the Number of export authorisations issued to the defence exporters.
The MoD in its statement said, "Defence exports have touched a record Rs 21,083 crore (approx. US$ 2.63 Billion) in the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24, a growth of 32.5% over the last fiscal when the figure was Rs 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 Ministry attributed the achievement to the tremendous efforts of the defence Industry, including the private sector and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs). "The private sector and the DPSUs have contributed about 60% and 40% respectively.", it said.
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.
As per the comparative data of two decades i.e. the period from 2004-05 to 2013-14 and 2014-15 to 2023-24 there has been a growth of 21 times in the defence exports. "Total defence exports during 2004-05 to 2013-14 were Rs 4,312 crore, which has gone up to Rs 88,319 crore in the period from 2014-15 to 2023-24.", the MoD said.
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.