New Delhi, November 3: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday called for India to produce critical defence equipment and technologies at home and build the capacity to sustain them independently, saying military preparedness in the 21st century is tied to technological and industrial capability.
He was addressing the third edition of the Delhi Defence Dialogue at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Aatmanirbharta, he said, must be seen as a quest for technological sovereignty, meaning the country’s critical defence requirements are not held hostage to external dependencies.
True self-reliance, according to the minister, means having the knowledge to design a defence platform, the technology to manufacture it, the intellectual property to improve it and the ability to sustain it throughout its life.
Production and export figures
Mr Singh said 2025 had been observed as the Year of Reforms in the Ministry of Defence. Reforms in policy, institutions, technology development, acquisition procedures and ease of doing business were showing results, he said, with defence production reaching a record of about ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY 2025-26 and defence exports rising to ₹38,424 crore. Indian defence products now reach more than 80 countries.
He repeated the government’s targets of ₹3 lakh crore in defence production and ₹50,000 crore in defence exports by 2029, and said the domestic industry must expand capacity, improve quality and become more competitive to meet them. He also called for exports to cover maintenance, repair, training, logistics and technology cooperation.
Private sector role in major programmes
The minister said the government wanted more private participation in developing and building advanced defence platforms. “Opportunities for private participation in programmes such as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, propulsion systems, ATAGS, artillery ammunition and shipbuilding will accelerate indigenous development, expand manufacturing capacity and strengthen India’s position in the global defence market,” he said.
He listed the Defence Industrial Corridors and the corporatisation of the former Ordnance Factory Board into seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings among the steps taken over the last decade to strengthen the domestic defence industrial base.
Changing nature of warfare
Mr Singh said recent conflicts showed that battlefields now extend into space, cyberspace and the digital domain, and that inexpensive drones and autonomous systems are challenging costly military platforms. The ability to innovate quickly, manufacture at scale and replenish stocks has become as important as owning advanced weapons, he said.
On research, he said the armed forces must stay closely involved because of their battlefield experience, but research should not be driven only by immediate operational needs. R&D, he said, needs the freedom to question assumptions and pursue unconventional ideas, and successful innovations must move from laboratories and prototypes into production.
Co-development with foreign partners
The minister said self-reliance does not mean a retreat from the world. Traditional partnerships based on procurement, licensed manufacturing and transfer of technology had helped Indian industry, he said, but future cooperation should be based on co-development, co-production and shared innovation, with Indian participation in design, access to critical technologies and a fair sharing of intellectual property.
In his welcome remarks, MP-IDSA Director General Ambassador Sujan R Chinoy said the dialogue would cover defence reforms, indigenous capabilities, international collaboration and exports. Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee Air Marshal Tejinder Singh and Additional Secretary Dipti Mohil Chawla were among those present.
The two-day dialogue, on November 3 and 4, is being held on the theme ‘Defence Reforms, Aatmanirbharta, Collaborations and Exports’ and brings together policymakers, the armed forces, industry, academia and think tanks from India and abroad.
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