Domestic share in defense acquisitions raised to 75%

Context

• Defense minister announced at Aero India 2023, Asia’s biggest military airshow, that India has earmarked 75% of this year’s defense capital procurement budget for buying weapons and systems from local manufacturers — a move aimed at unlocking new opportunities for achieving self-reliance targets and ramping up the country’s defense exports.

About:

• The share of the domestic sector in the defense budget was never higher. India set aside 68% of the military’s capital acquisition budget for making indigenous purchases in 2022-23, 64% in 2021-22, and 58% in 2020-21.
• Categories where imports have been almost replaced by domestic products include warships, artillery guns, light combat aircraft, basic trainers, a variety of helicopters, radars, and different types of ammunition.
• Singh said he was confident that the Indian industry will step forward with enthusiasm and contribute to making the defense sector more robust. India has set a target of achieving defense exports worth $5 billion by 2025.