Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said India will soon be manufacturing 90 per cent of the defence products it needs within the country and by 2024-2025, it will also export such products worth $5 billion.
“Earlier, 65-70 per cent defence products were imported. Now, as we head for ‘aatmanirbharata’ (self-reliance), 65 per cent of defence products are made in India. We were known as an importer (of defence equipment) earlier, now we are exporting those to 70 countries,” he said while addressing the gathering at the “Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv” here.
“By 2024-2025, we will be achieving the target of exporting defence products worth $5 billion as fixed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I can assure him that 90 per cent of the defence products will be made in India soon,” he said.
Tribute to Laxmibai
Earlier, Singh paid tributes to Rani Laxmibai and said there was a time when India was counted among the countries buying the largest number of defence equipment in the world but today, with the efforts of the Prime Minister, the situation has changed.
In the presence of Modi at the concluding session on the final day of the Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv, which began in Jhansi on Wednesday, the Defence Minister said due to his initiatives for women empowerment, women are being recruited in the Army.
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“When I was the home minister, I had issued an advisory to all the states that a 33-per cent representation should be given to women in security forces. The situation has changed now. In all police and paramilitary forces, the participation of women has increased,” he said.
He added that defence exports from India had crossed the ₹38,000-crore mark in the last seven years.