Future of Defence Manufacturing in India: A Strategic Transformation Towards Global Leadership

Abstract

The defence production industry in India is still in a historic restructuring process which takes the form of the reliance on imports changing to more autonomous and internationally competitive environment. Under the policy frameworks of the Atmanirbhar Bharat strategic vision and supported by the policy instruments of Make in India, Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 and Positive Indigenisation lists, India has historical expansion in the same area of defence production and exports. Since 2014-15, defence production has grown by 220 per cent, and exports have grown more than thirty times and is expected to reach about 24,000 crores in 2024-25. The given paper will review the structural, policy, and technological forces that precondition the future of defence manufacturing in India. It examines the changing roles of the Defence Public Sector Undertakings, the growing private sector, MSMEs, and start-ups as well as the strategic importance of defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Other indigenous technological achievements described in the study include BrahMos, Tejas, Akash and Pinaka systems and new capabilities in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous systems and sophisticated manufacturing. Although the paper recognises some ongoing problems, especially in the areas of critical technologies, supply-chain resilience, skill building, and procurement complexity, this paper contends that India can meet its goals of 3 lakh crore in defence production and 50,000 crores in exports by 2029. The defence industrialisation is therefore manifested as a backbone of the Indian strategic independence, economic development and international defence leadership objectives.