India’s defence exports crossed record ₹21,000 crore over decade: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announces India's record defence exports, emphasizing the need for frontier technologies and training centers.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday (December 30, 2024) that India's defence exports have crossed a record ₹21,000 crore from ₹2,000 crore a decade ago.

Addressing officers at the Army War College (AWC) in more than two-centuries-old Mhow Cantonment, Mr. Singh said a target has been set to achieve defence exports of ₹50,000 crore by 2029.

He said mastering frontier technologies is the need of the hour in the constantly evolving times, noting that military training centres are playing a crucial role in equipping and readying soldiers to deal with future challenges.

“Our defence exports, which were around ₹2,000 crore a decade ago, have crossed the record figure of ₹21,000 crore today. We have set an export target of ₹50,000 crore by 2029,” Mr. Singh said.

He said Made-in-India equipment is being exported to other countries.

Mr. Singh mentioned radical changes in warfare in his speech, saying that unconventional methods like information warfare, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based warfare, proxy warfare, electromagnetic warfare, space warfare, and cyber-attacks are posing a big challenge.

He stressed the need for the military to be well-trained and equipped to fight off such attacks and lauded training centres in Mhow for their valuable contributions.