Govt Sets Target Of Rs 1.75 Lakh Cr In Defence Manufacturing By 2024-25

The government announced on Monday that it had set a target of Rs 1,75,000 crore in defence manufacturing, including Rs 35,000 crore in defence exports, by 2024-25.

In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt stated that the value of production undertaken by private companies and state-run defence manufacturers in 2021-22 was Rs 86,078 crore, up from Rs 88,631 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 63,722 crore in 2019-20.

In 2018-19, the production value was Rs 50,499 crore, compared to Rs 54,951 crore in 2017-18.

"The government has set a target of Rs 1,75,000 crore in defence manufacturing and Rs 35,000 crore in defence exports by 2024-25," Bhatt said.

The minister also stated that the value of defence exports in 2021-22 will be Rs 12,815 crore, up from Rs 13,398 crore as of 6 March 2019.

In response to a separate question, he stated that modernising armed forces to meet future challenges is a continuous process based on long-term integrated planning.

"The annual acquisition plan is developed annually based on input from services and is based on identified threats, inter-service prioritisation, and emerging technologies," Bhatt explained.

According to the minister, the share of the capital acquisition budget has consistently increased.

"A total of Rs 1,24,408.66 crore has been set aside for capital acquisitions in the fiscal year 2022-23, which has been increased to Rs 1,32,727 crore in the fiscal year 2023-24," Bhatt said.

"Furthermore, in the last three years, the DRDO has undertaken 50 mission mode and technology development projects worth Rs 23,722 crore for the development of indigenous weapons and technologies," he added.

In response to another question, Bhatt stated that the Indian Navy has opened all branches to women at the graduate level. Executive, engineering, electrical and education are the branches.

Women have applied for 3,941 positions in the executive branch, 360 in the engineering wing, 652 in the electrical wing and 411 in the education wing.