Make in India: Defence industry hits new high with highest-ever production value in 2023-24

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced on Friday that India reached the highest-ever growth in the value of defence production in 2023-24 and made significant leaps under the Make in India initiative. He said production values surged from the fiscal year 2022-2023 by 16.8% to Rs. 1,26,887 crores in FY 2023-2024.

Rajnath Singh, in a post on ‘X’ on Friday, said that the Indian government aims to develop India as a leading Global Defence Manufacturing Hub. The Union Minister applauded the Make in India initiative for the growth in production and said it has been crossing milestones with each passing year under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

“The Make in India programme is crossing new milestones, year after year, under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi. India has registered the highest-ever growth in the value of defence production in 2023-24. The value of production has reached to Rs. 1,26,887 crore in 2023-24 which is 16.8% higher than the value of production of previous financial year,” Rajnath Singh posted on X.

The Defence Minister's post added, "Many congratulations to our industry, including DPSUs, other PSUs manufacturing defence items and the Private industry. The Government is committed to create more conducive regime for developing India as leading Global Defence Manufacturing Hub.”

Speaking to LiveMint about India's defence production, Manoj Joshi, former National Security Council Advisor Board member and fellow at Observer Research Foundation(ORF), a global think tank in India, noted that the value of production accounts for a “very lazy way of claiming credit,” as it does not give the whole scenario amidst fluctuating prices of goods.

“Even if you produced the same amount of a product or even less, its value may increase. So both figures need to be given, the actual production as well as the value of that production,” said Manoj Joshi.

Earlier in June 2024, Adani Defence and Aerospace signed an agreement with French defence company Thales to boost the Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat programmes. The tie-up aims to manufacture 70 mm rockets for the Rudra and Prachand helicopters.

The Thales group identified the pact as a key milestone for India’s reliance on home-grown defence equipment. Earlier in June this year, the French company posted on the microblogging site X, “Together, we seek to contribute to further growth and success of India's defence sector."

The key players in India’s production domain are the 16 DPSUs. Of these, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited( HAL), which produced the lightweight combat helicopter Prachand, deals specifically with aircraft. Other entities deal with respective categories, such as Bharat Electronics Limited (electronics), Bharat Dynamics Limited (missiles), Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (special alloys) and BEML Limited (vehicles and earth-moving equipment).