India aims to achieve defence production worth Rs 3 lakh crore and defence exports worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2029, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told Members of Parliament in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, on Tuesday, November 3, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Singh was chairing a meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Defence on the modernisation of the Indian Defence Forces. He said the defence budget for financial year 2026-27 had been increased to a record Rs 7.85 lakh crore, including a capital outlay of Rs 2.19 lakh crore for modernisation and capital procurement, IANS reported.

Rs 7.85 lakh croreDefence budget, FY 2026-27
Rs 2.19 lakh croreCapital outlay for modernisation
Rs 1.78 lakh croreDefence production, 2025-26
Rs 3 lakh croreProduction target by 2029

On self-reliance, the minister said defence production had risen from Rs 46,429 crore in 2014-15 to a record Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26, while defence exports had grown from less than Rs 2,000 crore in 2014 to approximately Rs 40,000 crore, according to the Ministry of Defence release cited by Defence Standard.

Focus on new technology and joint planning

The meeting discussed emerging security challenges, changing warfare practices and the induction of next-generation platforms, weapons and technologies. Strengthening coordination among the three Services, joint operational planning, and the use of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, unmanned platforms, cyber and space capabilities were among the priorities discussed, the ministry said.

Singh said the government was enabling greater private sector participation, from MSMEs to large corporations, alongside the work of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on advanced weapons, missiles and systems.