Indian industry reaches production milestone

The value of defence production – or the sum of defence companies' annual turnover – reached a record high of INR1 trillion (nearly USD13 billion) in FY 2022–23. (Indian MoD)

The value of defence production in India reached a record high of INR1.07 trillion (USD12.91 billion) in fiscal year (FY) 2022–23, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in New Delhi has announced. The new record is a 12% increase over the value of defence production in FY 2021–22, when it reached INR948.5 billion.

The MoD said on 19 May that the value represents the sum of reported annual turnover by the country's state-owned and private sector defence industry. It added that the figure for FY 2022–23 is likely to increase further once full-year financial data has been received from some private sector firms.

According to the MoD, the increase in production value is attributable to a series of industry reforms introduced in recent years. These include measures to integrate private sector firms into supply chains and to simplify the licensing procedures for these companies.

The MoD said there has been a 200% increase in the number of licences issued to firms in the past seven to eight years. “These measures have given a boost to the defence industrial manufacturing ecosystem in the country,” the MoD said.

The MoD statistics show that 81% of the total value of defence production in FY 2022–23 – or INR868 billion – was attributed mainly to state-owned enterprises including Defence Public Sector Undertakings and companies that were part of the Ordnance Factory Board that was restructured in 2021. The remaining 19% was attributed to private sector firms.