Over the past few years, India has been continuously working on the “Make in India” project. It has brought self-reliance and up-gradation in Indian Defence Sector. Having a total export of INR 460.97 Crores for the year 2012-13, it substantially increased to INR 11,000 Crores for the year 2018-19. Here is a graph showing the significant increase in defence exports over the past years:

Source: Department of Defence Production/Ministry of Defence, “Annual Reports” for period up to fiscal year 2016-17; The Economic Times, January 18, 2019 for fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19; Manekshaw Paper No. 83, 2019.

India has exported various aircraft, avionics, small arms, naval craft, torpedoes, SONARs, vehicles, personal protection gear, simulation systems, radars and components of various defence equipment to USA, UK, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Kenya and many others. A detailed table is shown below:

Source: Manekshaw Paper No. 83, 2019

Over 230 forces globally use the protection gear manufactured by MKU Limited which is a Kanpur based Indian private defence company. India has exported indigenous developed light weight torpedoes worth USD 39.7 Million to Myanmar. Countries like USA, UK, Japan and South Korea are using simulation systems developed by a ARI Simulations, a Delhi based private company. The Import Vs Export Trend Indicator Value (TIV) ratio has significantly dropped over the years, which is indeed, one of the best indications of India’s Defence Sector being self-reliant. The TIV of an item being delivered is intended to reflect its military capability rather than its financial value. The table below shows the year wise Import Vs Export (TIV) ratio (the lower, the better):

Source: SIPRI “arms trade data”, maintained till 2018 at https://armstrade.sipri.org. & Manekshaw Paper No. 83, 2019

India is the first ever country to have developed bullet-proof helmets and vest that are capable enough to stop hard core steel bullets like that of AK-47 even from a distance as close as 10 meters. The jacket will be of a great advantage in close combat operations. It will shield a soldier’s Chest, back, neck and groin area from enemy fire. Along with this, Indian Army’s College of Military Engineering jointly with a private firm has developed India’s first and also the world’s cheapest gunshot locator. It can locate the exact location of the bullet from distance of 400 meters. The device costs around INR 3 lakhs and will replace a similar imported device that costs INR 65 lakhs. To put into perspective, we have made it at around 95% lesser cost. Indeed, these are the moments to be proud of. This is an achievement that India witnessed under the “Make in India” project.

We hope that mainstream media channels take fascination in showing such news of national interest, rather than the religion and sectarianism based news.

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