military Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has stated that India’s military industry is “on the cusp of a massive expansion” while also implying that public-private partnerships will be “critical” to the nation being a centre for advanced manufacturing in the field.
He also stated that the government’s goal is to create a “technologically advanced” and “combat-ready force” that can successfully handle the “complexities of modern warfare” during his remarks at a defense conclave held here late Monday night.
Axis Bank organized the event to bring together many stakeholders, such as financial institutions, industry members, and government representatives, under one roof.
According to Singh, the conclave encourages cooperation between various defense industry ecosystem stakeholders, including those who would provide funding. A “critical issue” at the moment, he continued, is empowering the defense ecosystem and establishing a single forum for talks on “Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
“It is an ongoing effort which we sort of need to continue to focus on. It is also in line with our priorities of modernising and reforming the defence ecosystem in our quest for ‘Atmanirbharta’ or strategic self-reliance,” the defence secretary said. He recalled that Ministry of Defence recently declared 2025 as the “year of reforms”, saying the objective is to make systems and procedures more efficient, streamlined in order to deliver timely outcomes. “The intention is to build a technologically advanced and combat-ready force that can effectively address the complexities of modern warfare,” he said. In his address, Singh emphasised about working together with different stakeholders to create a robust defence ecosystem.
According to him, other factors that will support the expansion of the Indian domestic defense industry include a relaxation of FDI regulations and industrial licensing processes.
“Our exports have increased to `21,000 Crore, almost a 30 times jump in the last ten years. It is very obvious that the defence industry in India is at the cusp of a massive expansion,” the defense secretary stated.
The current industrial ecosystem of India, which encompasses multiple military PSUs, licensed firms and MSMEs are the “pillars of this expanding industrial base”, he noted.
“In order for our defense industrial ecosystem to become flexible, agile, and able to react swiftly to the evolving nature of warfare, we must concentrate on lowering industry barriers for new players and new technologies,”
“As per our modernization initiatives,” he continued, “we should be spending something between $20-25 billion, perhaps even USD 30 billion, annually over the next ten years.”
The top ministry official had earlier in his speech emphasized the vision of an industrial ecosystem in which “incumbency advantage would not prevail over the ability of start-ups of agile private sector entrepreneurs,” to introduce disruptive technologies and bring them into the ecosystem.
