India among top 25 arms exporters; 30-fold increase in exports since FY14: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her address at the 4th convocation ceremony of the Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, today, said from being the second arms importer from 2015-19, India is now among the top 25 arms exporters in the world, with over 100 companies exporting Brahmos Missile, Pinaka rocket system, and Dornier aircraft.

"Now India has achieved the highest ever growth in the indeginous defence production. In value terms, today we have reached record high of ₹1.27 lakh crore in 2023-24, which is a 2.7 fold increase over 2014-15. Defence exports, too, reached an all-time high surging ₹21,083 crore, i.e. 2023-24. We were only exporting ₹684 crore in 2013-14. So you see that 30-fold increase has happened in defence exports."

She also talked about maritime securities, saying over 80% of the global goods trade happens via ships across all the seas. "Before seen as a key to prosperity, broader national security concerns are also linked. Over the last decade, we have doubled the capacity of our ports. As much as you are training yourself with a good institution, I want to assure you the policy of the Prime Minister is to ensure that our borders are given that much attention with policy and money."

The FM said India has doubled the capacity of its ports, reaching 1,630 MTPAs. "By March 2024, compared to 1,800 MTPA in 2014, it's a rapid change and increase in capacity."