Akash missile is developed by the DRDO and produced by Bharat Dynamics Ltd

India is currently exporting military hardware to around 85 countries, with around 100 local firms involved in the effort

New Delhi: India is on course to achieve its defence export target of ₹50,000 crore in the next five years, defence ministry officials said on Sunday, citing export data shared by the government for the first quarter of financial year 2024-25.

The data shared a day earlier shows India’s defence exports stood at ₹6,915 crore during April-July 2024. This is 78% higher than the figure of ₹3,885 crore for the corresponding period in the previous FY. As was the trend last year, the share of the public and private sectors stood at 60% and 40%, respectively, the officials said.

In April, the defence ministry announced that India’s defence exports grew 32.5% during the 2023-24 fiscal and crossed the ₹21,000-crore mark for the first time as the country remained focused on boosting the indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem as well as military exports.

The value of exports in FY 2023-34 was 32.5% more than that in the previous year when the figure was ₹15,920 crore. Defence exports have grown 31 times in the last 10 years as compared to FY 2013-14.

India is currently exporting military hardware to around 85 countries, with around 100 local firms involved in the effort. The hardware includes missiles, artillery guns, rockets, armoured vehicles, offshore patrol vessels, personal protective gear, a variety of radars, surveillance systems and ammunition.

Military exports have risen sharply, and imports have dropped on the back of policy initiatives and reforms during the last 10 years, the government has maintained.

Agencies