Meanwhile, defence exports in financial year 2024-25 (FY 25), so far have already exceeded that of in FY 17 and FY 18, as per data updated on Department of Defence Production.

In 2023, India’s military expenditure accounted for 2.4 per cent of its GDP, as reported by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Additionally, India’s military spending constituted 8.15 per cent of its total government expenditure in the same year. In 2023, India was the fourth largest military spender in the world, at $83.5 billion ahead of advanced economies like Germany ($66.8 billion) and the UK ($74.9 billion).

The public sector may be constrained in its ability to meet the growing demands of the armed forces, according to an Observer Research Foundation October 2023 paper authored by Jawaharlal Nehru University Associate Professor Laxman Kumar Behera.

“Despite decades of existence, not a single Indian company has found a place in the world’s top 20 defence companies even though the country is now the fourth largest military spender in the world. …The government is taking steps to reform the public sector, even as it accords greater importance to the private sector for defence manufacturing and, increasingly, cutting-edge innovation,” it noted.