Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that India is one of the top five economies of the world and would have become world’s third largest economy within six months or a year if the recent west Asia Crisis had not disrupted its progress. However, he expressed hopes that India would certainly reach that milestone too.
Highlighting India’s growing self-reliance in defence manufacturing, the minister said the country is strengthening its indigenous capabilities in defence production ranging from fighter aircraft, warships, missiles, radars and drones to advanced defence systems. He said ‘things which we used to buy from other countries are now being made on Indian soil by Indians.’
He further noted that India's defence exports, which were at around Rs 600 crore earlier, increased to approximately Rs 50,000 crore after the BJP-led government came to power in 2014. The defence production rose to Rs 1.80 lakh crore from a few thousand crore rupees earlier. He added that India is no longer only an importer of weapons but is emerging as an important exporter in the global defence manufacturing industry.
