New Delhi: India's defense exports touched an all-time high of Rs 38,424 crore in FY 2025-26, a 62.66% increase. The US emerged as the biggest defense export destination with American companies procuring a lot of sub-systems, including fuselages, from India.
The Ministry of Defence said that Defense Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and the private sector have contributed 54.84% and 45.16%, respectively.
“This sharp rise highlights the increasing global acceptance of Indian made defense products and the sector’s growing integration into international supply chains,” a ministry statement said.
“Apart from being a successful global partner for systems/subsystems, India is exporting defence equipment to more than 80 countries as of FY 2025-26. The number of exporters underwent a surge to 145 from 128, a 13.3% rise from the previous fiscal,” it added.
The Narendra Modi government had in 2020 set an ambitious export target of Rs 35,000 crore ($5 billion) in aerospace and defence goods and services for the next five years. This was part of the government’s plan to achieve a turnover of Rs 1.75 lakh crore ($25 billion) in defence manufacturing by 2025.
Sources in the defense establishment told The Print that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, along with tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the need to modernize the military, helped fuel India’s defense exports. Major exports of defense PSUs consist primarily of various types of munitions and fuses, besides lightweight torpedoes.
