Defence industry of India

[10] USA is the largest importer of Indian made materials, alloys, steel, components and sub-systems.

[24] Thus in 2022, the Indian Government scrapped the import of several large defence platforms and equipment, which included helicopters for the Coast Guard, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and short-range missiles.

[26] ($1990 million) ($1990 million) Compared to other military branches, the Indian Army consumes 50% of defence budget, is least technology intensive and slowly adopting the indigenisation of defence equipments which has multi-year long procurement cycle, and pre-purchase field trials last for several years sometimes without resulting in any procurement process, for example soldier's hand held GPS enabled indigenous "Sathi" PDA "Beta Project" was abandoned midway and soldiers still do not have a PDA.

[29] The Indian Armed forces are using numerous successful Indigenous technologies produced by the DRDO, including Varunastra, Maareech, Ushus, Advanced Light Torpedo (TAL) Shyena; Electronic Warfare Technologies, radars, composite materials for LCA, AEW&C, Astra, LCA Tejas by the Indian Airforce; ASAT, Brahmos, Nag missile, SAAW, Arjun MBT Mk1A, 46-metre Modular Bridge, MPR, LLTR Ashwin by the army.

[31][32] PSUs exports Arms and Ammunition, Weapon Spares, Chemicals & Explosives, Parachutes, Leather and Clothing items to more than 30 countries worldwide e.g. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Egypt, Oman, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria, Botswana, Chile, Suriname and United States.

According to the latest official data given in the upper house of the Indian Parliament - the Rajya Sabha, India's defence exports have jumped by 700% in just two years.

[36] In March 2011 New Delhi agreed to sell its first indigenously designed and built multi-role offshore patrol vessel (OPV) named Barracuda, to Mauritius.

In March 2017, India finalised a deal with Myanmar for the sale of indigenously developed lightweight torpedoes worth US$37.9 million.

In 2022, when India signed the deal to supply Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRL), anti-tank munitions, and ammunition worth US$250 million to Armenia[39] In September 2017, AWE secured its biggest export orders from UAE for supplying 40,000 no.of 155 mm artillery shells for ₹3.22 billion (US$37 million).

[36] The Ministry of Defence's Year End Review 2023 states that exports for FY 2022–2023 totalled ₹16,000 crore.

Major platforms exported include the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher, radars, simulators, mine-protected vehicles, armoured vehicles, line replaceable units and parts, thermal imagers, body armours, ammunitions, small arms and avionics components.

Other platforms include the Dornier-228, 155 mm/52 calibre DRDO Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System, BrahMos cruise missile, and Akash SAM.

[88] Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship scheme, "Make in India in Defence," the government's policies encourage domestic manufacturing and the export of defense equipment.

[35] Encouraged by this scheme, the government set a target of achieving defence exports worth ₹35,000 crore ($4.87 billion) in the next four years.

[89] In July 2015, the defence ministry eased export regulations and stopped demanding multiple assurances on end-use from foreign governments even for sale of components by Indian entities.

[91][92] This will further increase the types of weapons, their spares and components, cost of maintainability which will result in non-compatibility and standardisation problems in near future.

[98][99][100][101][102] These include weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, transport aircraft, light combat helicopters (LCHs) and even wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs).

[112][107] Allegedly, arms agents can manipulate the procurement process because they have the means to pay substantial commissions to politicians, military officials and bureaucrats, therefore making them ever-present in defence deals.

[113][114] According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Sudhir Choudhrie, Suresh Nanda and Vipin Khanna were the largest and most powerful arms dealers for decades.

[115][116][117] Allegedly, Khanna, Choudhrie and Nanda, started dominating the defence sector since before the Bofors Scandal in the 1980s, and their families have maintained their positions.

[128][129] In January 2025 after his exoneration, Verma joined full time politics as Chief Coordinator of Shiv Sena a Hindu Right Wing party which is a member of ruling NDA coalition at the centre[130][131].

[115][134] In addition to this, non-Indian citizens have also been accused of allegedly giving bribes and kickbacks to influence defence deals in India.