India is among the world’s largest arms importers, and successive governments have pursued a deliberate shift toward domestic production to reduce that dependence. Defence manufacturing now spans public sector undertakings, a fast-growing private industry and a startup ecosystem, all shaped by a series of self-reliance policies.

Policy framework

  • Make in India & Atmanirbhar Bharat: flagship initiatives to localise design and production of defence equipment.
  • Positive indigenisation lists: lists of items barred from import to guarantee demand for domestic manufacturers.
  • Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 and higher FDI limits (up to 74% automatic, 100% by approval): designed to attract investment and technology.

Defence industrial corridors

Two dedicated corridors — in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu — aim to cluster manufacturers, suppliers and testing infrastructure to accelerate production and draw investment.

Public and private industry

Alongside the defence PSUs, private majors such as Tata Advanced Systems, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Defence, Mahindra Defence and Bharat Forge now build platforms, systems and sub-assemblies, supported by thousands of MSMEs and iDEX-backed startups.

Rising exports

India’s defence exports have grown rapidly to record levels, reaching customers across dozens of countries with products from BrahMos missiles to patrol vessels, radars and ammunition — a marker of the sector’s maturing capability.