According to a Reuters report, India’s defense production has experienced significant growth, surpassing the 1 trillion rupee ($12 billion) mark for the first time in the previous fiscal year. This rise is a part of India’s ongoing efforts to reduce its dependence on imports, particularly from countries like Russia.

As the world’s largest arms importer in the past decade, India has heavily relied on Russia for almost half of its military supplies. However, the conflict in Ukraine has impacted the availability of critical Russian spares necessary for maintaining India’s tank and fighter jet fleets. Furthermore, the delivery of Russian air defense systems has been delayed, as stated in the Reuters report.

The Ministry of Defense has announced that the value of India’s domestic defense production increased to 1.07 trillion rupees in the fiscal year ending on March 31. This figure is expected to rise further as data from additional private defense companies is included.

The ministry emphasized its commitment to working closely with defense industries and their associations to address challenges and promote domestic defense production. In recent years, the number of defense industry licenses issued has nearly tripled, according to the ministry.

Additionally, India’s defense exports have experienced growth, with a 24% increase to around 160 billion rupees in the previous fiscal year, as per government data cited in the Reuters report. The country exports various defense equipment, including Dornier-228 aircraft, artillery guns, Brahmos missiles produced through a joint venture with Russia, radars, armored vehicles, rockets and launchers, ammunition, and other related items.

These developments indicate India’s progress in enhancing its self-reliance and expanding its defense production capabilities, as well as its increasing contribution to the global defense export market.