Defence sector growing exponentially due to ‘Make in India’ initiative: President Droupadi Murmu

President of India Droupadi Murmu on Thursday (November 28, 2024) said India was rising and the world was acknowledging the country’s growth in various sectors, including defence technologies.

President of India Droupadi Murmu on Thursday (November 28, 2024) said India was rising and the world was acknowledging the country’s growth in various sectors, including defence technologies.

Delivering an address at the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington, Coonoor, Ms. Murmu said India was moving towards “indigenisation and self-reliance to keep the armed forces ready to meet future challenges.” The President, who is on a three-day visit to the Nilgiris, was addressing student officers at the DSSC, Wellington, including 38 international student officers from 28 countries.

“Our country is being developed as a major defence manufacturing hub and is moving towards becoming a reliable defence partner and leading defence exporter,” she said. Ms. Murmu said that India’s defence sector was quick to adopt latest technologies and that companies like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) were “setting new benchmarks.”

“Today, India exports defence equipment to more than 100 countries. India’s defence exports grew 30 times over the past decade, and the ‘Make in India’ initiative has played a major role in this development,” she said.

The President said that new challenges like cyber warfare, terrorism, and issues like climate change were acquiring “new dimensions, which need to be better understood and managed.”

She also paid tribute to the student officers attending the course, commending their “determination” to serve the country. She also spoke of the increasing number of women officers in the armed forces, stating that they were already making a “difference in every field, including the armed forces,” she said.

She said she had met women officers in Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield, and also women sailors and Agniveers onboard the INS Vikrant during her day at sea in Goa recently. “I look forward to more women joining the armed forces where they can demonstrate exceptional capabilities and break new ground in uncharted territory,” she said.