2024-02-29 21:17:50
Indian authorities expect that over the next five years, the total production of the country’s military-industrial complex and defense exports will triple. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of the Republic Rajnath Singh, Day.Az reports with reference to TASS.
In the 2022-2023 financial year (counted from April 1), the volume of Indian military-industrial complex production amounted to more than $12 billion for the first time in the country’s history. According to Singh, India intends to further increase production and exports.
“India used to be an arms importing country, but today, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have come out of our comfort zone and risen to the top 25 arms exporting countries. Seven-eight years ago, defense exports were less than $120 million a year, but today it reached $2 billion. By the 2028-2029 financial year, the total annual output of the defense industry will reach $36 billion, and defense exports will reach $6 billion,” the press service of the Ministry of Defense quotes the minister’s speech at a media forum in Delhi.
The head of the department recalled that the budget for the next financial year assumes an increase in expenses to $74.8 billion compared to $71.5 billion a year earlier. The Ministry of Defense received the largest share of the budget, he emphasized.
Singh also encouraged young professionals to create new companies with a defense profile, emphasizing that in 20-25 years they will define “a new dimension of India’s image on the global stage.” Among the priority areas of such work, he named artificial intelligence, quantum computers, “smart weapons systems,” means of cyber warfare, and space defense systems.