Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is a reminder for India to build a strong defence industrial base, which can be bolstered and expanded with time.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to empowering India’s defence industry by working hand-in-hand with it and realise the vision of making India a global manufacturing hub.

Addressing the seventh annual session of the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) in New Delhi, Mr Singh asserted that the government, in its third consecutive term, will provide a renewed thrust to its ongoing efforts towards developing a robust, innovative and self-reliant defence ecosystem.

He enumerated the steps taken to attain ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence, including the creation of defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh & Tamil Nadu, issuance of positive indigenisation lists (PILs), corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board, handholding of private industries by DRDO, and unveiling of Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020.

On the 10 PILs notified with over 5,500 items, the defence minister stated that the idea is to equip the armed forces with platforms/equipment manufactured on Indian soil. Terming the lists as dynamic and not static, he exhorted the industry to achieve complete self-reliance for these items within the stipulated time and keep shortening the list. He also stressed the need to assess and identify products that can be added to the PILs in view of the rapid changes being witnessed in the field of defence across the globe.

Mr Singh emphasised that due to the government’s efforts, an environment conducive to ease of doing business in the country has been created, and a target set for making India’s defence industry export-oriented.

While he lauded the major contribution of the private sector in taking the defence exports to a record high of over Rs 21,000 crore in Financial Year (FY) 2023-24, he called upon the industry to keep in mind the export and import figures and strive to reduce the ratio between the two with a target-oriented approach.

Mr Singh expressed happiness over the fact that the annual defence production touched a record high of Rs 1.27 lakh crore in FY 2023-24. While the share of DPSUs was Rs one lakh crore, private companies contributed about Rs 27,000 crore. He stated that there is a huge scope for increasing the share of private industries, and the next target should be to bring their participation to at least half of the total defence production. He promised the full support of the Government in achieving this target.