Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday (October 17, 2025) said that India is working towards taking domestic defense production to 100 percent, as dependence on foreign military supplies creates strategic weaknesses. He said this after inaugurating the third production line of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-MK1A and the second manufacturing facility of training jet HTT-40.
In his address in Nashik, Maharashtra, Singh said, ‘There was a time when the country was dependent on other countries for its defense needs and about 65-70 percent of defense equipment was imported. But today the situation has changed, now India is doing 65 percent manufacturing on its own soil. Very soon we will take our domestic manufacturing to 100 percent.
Target of Rs 50,000 crore set for defense exports by 2029- Rajnath
Highlighting the major achievements made as part of the government’s efforts to promote self-reliance in the defense sector, Rajnath Singh said India’s annual defense production has increased from Rs 46,429 crore in 2014-15 to more than Rs 1.50 lakh crore in 2024-25.
Singh said defense exports were less than Rs 1,000 crore a decade ago, but have now grown to an all-time high of Rs 25,000 crore. He said, ‘We have now set a target of Rs 3 lakh crore in domestic defense manufacturing and Rs 50,000 crore in defense exports by 2029.’
Without self-reliance we can never be completely safe – Rajnath
The Defense Minister said that without achieving self-reliance in the defense sector, India can never remain safe. He said, ‘When we came to power in 2014, we realized that without self-reliance we can never be completely secure. In the beginning we faced many challenges, the biggest of which were limited defense preparedness and dependence on imports.
Singh said that everything was limited to government enterprises and the private sector had no significant participation in the mechanism supporting production. He said that adequate attention was not given to defense planning, advanced technology and innovation, which forced the country to depend on other countries for critical equipment and state-of-the-art systems, thereby increasing costs and creating strategic vulnerabilities.
Encouraged to move forward in the direction of new thinking and reforms- Rajnath
Singh said, ‘This challenge encouraged us to move forward in the direction of new thinking and reforms. Its results are visible today. We not only reduced our dependence on imports, but also strengthened our commitment towards indigenization. Whatever we used to buy from abroad, we are now manufacturing it domestically, be it fighter aircraft, missiles, engines or electronic warfare systems.
HAL Don’t limit yourself- Rajnath
On the ever-changing nature of modern warfare, Rajnath Singh stressed that it is important to stay ahead of the times as artificial intelligence (AI), cyber warfare, drone systems and next generation aircraft are shaping the future and wars are being fought on multiple borders.
He said, ‘India should always be ahead in this new race, not lagging behind. HAL was motivated to make its mark in the field of next generation aircraft, unmanned systems and civil aviation and not limit itself to LCA Tejas or HTT-40.
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