India’s defence exports can take-off by taking forward HAL clincher

The five largest arms importers between 2018 and 2022 were India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia and China, while the five largest arms exporters included the United States, Russia, France, China and Germany from among 63 states identified as exporters of major arms during the period. Incidentally, the five largest ones accounted for 76 per cent of all arms exports. The five largest exporters in western Europe—France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Spain—supplied around 24 per cent of total global arms exports. Taking into account exports worth $ 1.9 billion in 20222-23, India may be placed around number 11 in 2023 in the next report.

However, the export market needs to be sustained for India to remain, and move up the ladder in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) list of exporters. According to PIB, the country’s defence exports reached an all-time high of approximately Rs. 16,000 crore in 2022-23, up 10 times since 2016-17. Amit Cowshish, a former financial advisor (acquisitions) in the Ministry of Defence, cited three reasons why India is lagging in this field. It is no longer in the list of top 25 arms exporters, according to Sweden-based SIPRI, even as it is now exporting more defence hardware to South-East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

The tensions with Pakistan and China largely drive its demand for arms imports. With an 11 per cent share of total global arms imports, India has been the world’s biggest importer of major arms since 199. This is despite a 11 per cent fall in imports between 2013 and 2022. The decrease can be attributed to several factors, including the country’s slow and complex arms procurement process, efforts to diversify its arms suppliers and attempts to replace imports with major arms that are designed and produced domestically. Over the last five years, India’s defence exports stood at Rs. 4,682 crore in 2017-18, Rs. 10,746 crore in 2018-19, Rs. 9,116 crore in 2019-20, Rs. 8,435 crore in 2020-21 and Rs. 12,815 crore in 2021-22, the EurAsian Times reported.

As on March 14, 2023, India exported Rs. 13,399 crore of defence products, the report said. In the previous year’s SIPRI report, India was ranked the 23rd largest exporter above Brazil and Portugal. All three nations had an equal share of 0.2%. According to PIB, India’s defence exports reached an all-time high of approximately Rs. 16,000 crore in 2022-23, up 10 times since 2016-17. In a latest development, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is on the verge of signing potential deals with four countries, marking a significant stride in the country’s aerospace exports. According to sources Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria and the Philippines are in talks with HAL for the procurement of helicopters and fighter jets. This can be a major game-changer for the country across sectors. Perhaps, India’s low-cost manufacturing pricing coupled with a qualitatively top order expertise could help the country grow its export industry.