India records highest-ever defence exports at Rs 13,000 crore

New Delhi, July 09: India exported defence items and technology worth a record Rs 13,000 crore in 2021-22, an impressive 54.1 per cent rise over the previous year, a top defence ministry official said on Friday.

The country's defence exports are chiefly to the US, the Philippines and other countries in the South-East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

''In 2021-22, we have recorded Rs 13,000 crore of exports which is the highest ever exports number that we have recorded in defence,'' Sanjay Jaju, Additional Secretary in the Department of Defence Production (DDP), told a press briefing.

The exports in 2021-22 were almost eight times of what they were about five years back.

India's defence exports were worth Rs 8,434 crore in 2020-21, Rs 9,115 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 2,059 crore in 2015-16.

''There has been good progress. Of course, two years of COVID-19 was a bit of a setback. But this year, we have been able to record this number (of Rs 13,000 crore),'' he noted.

At an event titled "Artificial Intelligence in Defence" on Monday, the defence ministry will reward a private sector organisation and another from the public sector that performed the best in defence exports, he said. Generally, he said, private sector companies dominate the defence exports market with a share of almost 90 per cent. Last year, Indian public sector companies also did well contributing 30 per cent to the country's defence exports, he added.