Aero India 2021: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Announces Plan To Bring Down Defence Imports By $2 Billion By 2022

Speaking at Aero India 2021's Bandhan (partnership signing ceremony), Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that India plans to bring down its defence sector imports down by $2 billion by the end of 2022, reports The Hindu Businessline.

Emphasising that the intent of the plan is to encourage domestic manufacturing, Singh also pressed that a robust domestic manufacturing base would directly result into the potential for defence sector exports. He added, "We plan to move from a $11 billion defence base to $25 billion by 2025. Of this, we further intend to create an export component of $5 billion."

Singh also informed the audience that between 2015 and 2020, India's defence exports have grown from Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 9,000 crore. He also emphasised that a vast majority of the defence exports in India are being spearheaded by the private sector.

Meanwhile, this year's edition of Aero India held at Bengaluru witnessed the signing of 128 MoUs, finalisation of 19 technology transfers (ToTs), launches of 18 products and 32 major announcements.