India's defence exports have reached an all-time high, surging from 686 crore rupees in 2013-14 to nearly 16 thousand crore rupees in 2022-23. This remarkable 23 fold increase reflects India's progress in the global defence manufacturing sector. With exports reaching more than 85 countries, the country's defence industry has shown its capability of design and development to the world, with 100 firms exporting defence products at present. The government has taken a number of policy initiatives and brought reforms over the last nine years to give a push to defence exports.
The Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives have helped the country by encouraging indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment in the country, thereby reducing dependency on imports in the long run. The expenditure on defence procurement from foreign sources has reduced from 46 percent of overall expenditure in 2018-19 to over 36 percent in December last year.
India, once known primarily as a defence equipment importer, now exports a wide range of major platforms, including aircraft like the Dornier-228, artillery guns, Brahmos Missiles, PINAKA rockets & launchers, radars, simulators and armoured vehicles. The global demand for India's indigenous products including LCA-Tejas, Light Combat Helicopters, Aircraft Carriers, and MRO activities is also on the rise.