Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday highlighted that India’s defence manufacturing sector has witnessed a 16.7% increase in the fiscal year 2023-24, marking the highest-ever growth in the country’s defence production value.

Singh underscored that the total value of defence production in the country has surged to a record-high of Rs 1,26,887 crore this year, up from the previous year’s figure of Rs 1,08,684 crore.

Singh emphasized that Defence PSUs and other PSUs accounted for approximately 79.2 per cent of the total production value in FY 2023-24, with the private sector contributing the remaining 20 per cent.

The defence minister said that the central government has set a target of achieving indigenous defence manufacturing worth Rs 1,75,000 crore, including defence exports of Rs 35,000 crore, by the fiscal year 2024-25.

Notably, several global companies have either shared or expressed intent to share critical defence and aerospace knowledge with India. Several policy reforms, including the integration of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups into the supply chain, have been implemented to improve ease of doing business.

India’s defence exports reached a record Rs 21,083 crore in FY 2023-24, marking a 32.5% growth from the previous fiscal year’s figure of Rs 15,920 crore.

These recent figures indicate that defence exports have grown 31 times over the last decade compared to 2013-14.

Following the announcement of these production numbers, shares of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited surged by more than 1.5% to Rs 5,601 on Friday. Indian defence PSUs have witnessed significant returns on equities in the past few years, benefiting from new orders.