With defence exports reaching an all-time high of ₹15,920 crore in FY 2022-2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said it showed reforms in this sector are delivering results.
Modi’s was reacting to a a tweet by Defence Minster Rajnath Singh who tagged a chart which showed the defence shipments had risen by more than 10 times since 2016. It gave the year-wise figures from 2016-17, when the defence exports stood at ₹1,521 crore to ₹15,920 crore in 2022-23.
In the financial year 2021-22, the exports were to the tune of ₹12,814 crore, which means that the domestic industries did ₹3,106 core worth more business overseas in the just ended FY, data made public by Defence Minister showed. The Covid pandemic impacted the financial years 2019-20 (₹9,115 crore) and 2020-21 (₹8,434 crore) which lesser exports than in the FY 2018-19( 10,745 crore).
‘Remarkable’
“It is a remarkable achievement for the country. Under the inspiring leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi, our defence exports will continue to grow exponentially,” Singh’s tweet said.
Narendra Modi tagged and retweeted Singh’s post with his observation. “Excellent! A clear manifestation of India’s talent and the enthusiasm towards ‘Make in India.’ It also shows the reforms in this sector over the last few years are delivering good results. Our government will keep supporting efforts to make India a defence production hub,” Modi wrote.
The performance of the defence public sector undertakings as well as private sector added to the growth at the national level. The Bharat Electronics Ltd has won export orders worth about $52 million in March alone for supplying communication equipment, electronic assemblies, micro modules and mechanical parts to customers in France, Israel and the United States, among other countries
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has registered highest-ever revenue from operations of around ₹26,500 crore (provisional and unaudited) for FY 2022-23 as against ₹24,620 crore for the previous FY. Modi and Singh also lauded the leading defence PSU for continued impressive growth. “Glad to see HAL on a higher growth trajectory,” the Defence Minister tweeted.