DD Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Defence modernisation driven by a self-reliant and future-ready defence sector is the government’s top priority, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on the eve of the 80th Independence Day.
Addressing soldiers through Akashvani on Friday, Singh said the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was according the highest priority to strengthening and modernising the armed forces.He highlighted the transformation of India’s defence sector over the past 12 years through initiatives such as Self-Reliant India and Make in India, saying the country had emerged as a major defence manufacturing hub and a net defence exporter.
Singh said India’s domestic defence production had increased from around ₹46,000 crore in 2014 to a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26, marking nearly a four-fold rise over the past decade.He said Defence Public Sector Undertakings and other public sector entities accounted for around 76 per cent of total defence production, while the private sector’s share stood at 24 per cent, up from 22 per cent in the previous financial year.
The Defence Minister also highlighted the sharp growth in defence exports, which rose from just ₹ 686 crore in 2013-14 to a record ₹38,424 crore in 2025-26, an increase of more than 5,500 per cent.He said India now has 145 defence exporters, with Indian defence products being supplied to more than 80 countries.
Singh expressed confidence that the country would achieve its target of ₹50,000 crore in defence exports by 2029.The Defence Minister further said India’s defence budget had increased from ₹2.53 lakh crore in 2013-14 to ₹7.85 lakh crore in 2026-27, reflecting the government’s growing focus on future defence technologies.Singh said the transformation of the defence sector demonstrated India’s growing self-reliance and its determination to build a modern, technologically advanced and future-ready defence ecosystem.
