Military clash with Pakistan boosts India’s defence business, govt aims to double arms exports by 2029

India’s defence industry is making a push into the overseas markets, just two months after it engaged in a
4-day military clash with Pakistan following the devastating
Pahalgam terror attack. According to a Financial Times report, soon after the military escalation, the Indian government is seeking to boost its manufacturing by exporting home-made industrial products.

These products range from mobile phones to missiles, and the endeavour is being undertaken under the “
Make in India” initiative.  The push to export military equipment comes from both startups and established state-owned companies like BrahMos, whose missiles rocked Pakistan’s military infrastructure during Operation Sindoor.

While speaking to the Financial Times, Vivek Mishra, chief executive of Raphe mPhibr, a drone start-up that raised $100mn in June, said that the push after
Operation Sindoor came because “if Indian forces are using systems in harsh terrains and they are happy with the performance, that becomes a validation for other countries as well.”

Drones and weapon systems deployed during Operation Sindoor garner global attention

The start-up’s drones include swarm-capable, vertical take-off and landing mR10 and mR10-IC models, similar to the type deployed by India inside Pakistan, as New Delhi attacked nine terror camps in Pakistan.

Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh also explained how the global demand for Indian weapons has increased after Operation Sindoor. “The global demand for our indigenous products has increased even more after the valour we showed and the capability demonstrated by our domestic equipment in Operation Sindoor,” Singh said at an event in New Delhi on July 8.

According to the report, India is aiming to more than double its defence exports, reaching a figure of over Rs 500 billion ($5.8 billion) by 2029. In the past financial year, the export figure stood at Rs 236 billion, the Indian Defence Minister said. For years, India has been one of the world’s largest arms importers, buying weaponry from the US, France, Israel, Russia, etc.

However, the change in New Delhi’s approach could also be due to its ambition to bolster its defence industry to rival that of China. “The world saw a glimpse of ‘Make in India’ and indigenous weapon systems in Operation Sindoor,”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a meeting in May in Kanpur, touted as the hub of the Indian defence industry.

“Domestic manufactured arms and
BrahMos missiles caused massive destruction deep inside enemy territory,” he added. Back in 2014, it was the PM Modi-then administration that opened up India’s defence industry to the private sector. Adani is among the leading conglomerates in the sector, alongside giants such as Tata, Mahindra, and Larsen & Toubro.

“Our drones became the eyes in the skies as well as the swords of attack, and our anti-drone systems helped protect our forces and citizens,” said Gautam Adani, group chair, at the company’s annual shareholder meeting last month following the India-Pakistani military clash.

What India is exporting

A senior government official told the Financial Times that India exported BrahMos anti-ship missiles, which are made by an Indian-Russian joint venture, to the
Philippines in 2022 for $375 million. The country is now in discussions to sell the weapon system to Vietnam and Indonesia.

Apart from this, New Delhi will also be looking to market its
Akash air defence systems, made by state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), and artillery guns to “friendly foreign countries”, the official told the Financial Times. “We are not actively going around flogging any particular weapons,” he added.

Even before Operation Sindoor, India brokered other military deals involving state-owned companies. Some of them included the sale of four BEL-made Swathi weapon-locating radars made to
Armenia for about $40mn that were deployed in the country’s brief conflict with Azerbaijan that year.

Since then, Armenia has bought Pinaka rockets and Akash air defence systems, bringing its arms purchases from India to nearly $60mn. All these exports are crucial for the Indian military, given its limited buying power. In light of this, defence groups in the country are optimistic about their prospects of venturing out in foreign markets.