India has made a remarkable change in how it deals with arms and defense. From being the second-largest buyer of weapons between 2015 and 2019, India is now one of the top 25 countries that sell weapons. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced at a ceremony in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, that over 100 Indian companies are exporting advanced products, including BrahMos missiles, Pinaka rocket systems, and Dornier planes.
In the year 2023-24, defense exports reached a record high of ₹21,083 crore. This is a huge jump from just ₹686 crore in 2013-14, making it more than 30 times larger! She emphasized that India’s local defense production also hit an all-time high of ₹1.27 lakh crores for 2023-24, which is 2.7 times more than in 2014-15. This growth is a result of strong support from the government and investments made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
The finance minister praised India’s improvement in exporting defense items, saying that the country is now a net exporter, whereas it used to be one of the biggest importers of arms. She also noted the importance of protecting our coasts and trade routes and praised Rashtriya Raksha University for training security forces.
Additionally, she mentioned that Indian ports have nearly doubled their cargo handling capacity, from 824 million metric tons in 2014 to 1,630 million metric tons this year. The time taken to handle cargo at major ports has also improved, dropping from 94 hours to just 48 hours.
Sitharaman highlighted recent attacks on ships in the Red Sea and reinforced the Indian Navy and Coast Guard’s role in saving ships from pirates. She expressed pride in how quickly and effectively India has responded to these threats and emphasized India’s reputation as a reliable first responder in maritime situations.
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