Vertical Launch–Short Range quick reaction surface-to-air missile developed by DRDO

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that the government is developing a strong base of domestic defence industrial ecosystem to make India a strategic economy.

“The ministry is making all efforts to achieve the target of becoming self-reliant in the defence sector,” the Defence Minister said while addressing the 21st convocation ceremony of Tezpur University.

Rajnath said that for the first time the import of arms has been restricted because of the success of the Aatmnirbharta.

“We issued five positive indigenisation lists, under which 509 such defence equipment have been identified whose manufacturing will now be done indigenously. We have also issued four positive indigenisation lists of Defence Public Sector Undertakings, in which 4,666 items have been identified which will now be manufactured in our country,” the Defence Minister said.

He said that for the first time, the production has crossed the record figure of ₹1,00,000 Crore.

"The total value of India's defence exports, which was ₹1,521 crore in 2016-17, has increased almost 10 times to reach a record level of ₹15,920 crore in 2022-23,” the Defence Minister said.

He said that the incumbent government has a proactive attitude in tackling any situation which has replaced the crisis of credibility with a culture of confidence.

“India is no more tolerant of the let-it-be approach. Today, under the leadership of PM Modi, the new India believes in let’s-do-it approach,” the Defence Minister said.

On women empowerment, the Defence Minister said that the government has taken steps to ensure proper representation of women in all sectors including the military.

“Today, women are walking shoulder-to-shoulder with men in every field. From fighter planes to Chandrayan, there is no field in which the presence of women is not seen,” the Defence Minister said.

Mentioning the start-up culture initiated by the Ministry in the Defence Industrial Sector, Rajnath said the Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) has been successfully promoting innovative ideas since its inception.

“Because of the various efforts by the government to promote entrepreneurship among youth, now there are over one lakh start-ups in the country,” he said.