BrahMos and Akash Drive India’s Defence Export Push (Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)
NEW DELHI: India could achieve its Rs 50,000 crore defence export target by 2028, nearly two years ahead of the official 2030 deadline, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on Friday.
Speaking at a Public Affairs Forum of India conference, he pointed to strong overseas demand for indigenous missiles, artillery systems and other equipment as the key driver.
Defence exports reached a record Rs 38,424 crore in 2025-26, a sharp rise from just Rs 686 crore in 2013-14. Singh said the momentum of enquiries and orders suggested the higher target was within reach earlier than planned.
Cost Advantage as a Competitive Edge
Singh highlighted India’s pricing edge in the missile segment as a major factor supporting export growth. “Our USP really is that we can offer missiles, and I won’t name the missile, but similar missiles at almost one-fourth of the price of what foreign OEMs offer,” he said. He added that lower production costs for Indian missiles generally make the category particularly attractive for overseas buyers.
Beyond missiles, demand is rising for artillery and mounted gun systems. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile continues to attract interest from several Southeast Asian countries, while the Akash surface-to-air missile system is also drawing potential buyers. Singh noted that successful exports create longer-term strategic ties through maintenance, spares and technical support.
Expanding Domestic Manufacturing Capacity
To sustain and accelerate growth, the government is working to broaden the industrial base. Singh outlined ambitions for at least two, and preferably three, fighter aircraft production lines so that India is not dependent on a single facility.
“Intention is to have a second fighter jet production line in this country to prevent us from being held hostage by only one production line,” he said.
Proposals for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme are already being evaluated from three shortlisted companies.
In the missile sector, the aim is to move from reliance on a single public-sector undertaking to around half a dozen producers to build both scale and resilience.
The government also wants hundreds of drone manufacturers and is opening ammunition and propellant production to a wider set of private-sector firms.
These steps form part of a broader push to raise the share of domestic content in defence capital expenditure to 75 per cent each year.
Major programmes involving foreign technology, such as fighter aircraft and the C-295 transport aircraft, are increasingly structured with significant Make-in-India components.
Overall defence industry turnover has expanded from an aggregate Rs 46,000 crore in 2014 to nearly Rs 1.8 lakh crore. India has achieved substantial self-reliance in land systems, artillery, small arms and vehicles, though certain aerospace and advanced technology areas still involve foreign dependence.
Singh linked the export push to wider geopolitical realities, noting that the number of active conflicts worldwide is at its highest since the Second World War.
He said long-range and stand-off weapons, along with drones, are likely to play prominent roles in the early stages of future conflicts, increasing the importance of air-defence systems while tanks and armour retain relevance in later phases.
The combination of competitive pricing, expanding production capacity and a growing product portfolio positions India to convert domestic manufacturing gains into sustained export revenue and strategic influence.
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