India’s Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) form the industrial core of the country’s military production. These state-owned companies design and manufacture aircraft, warships, submarines, missiles, electronics and armoured vehicles, and are central to the Atmanirbhar Bharat drive for self-reliance in defence.

Major defence PSUs

  • Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL): India’s principal aerospace company, building fighters, helicopters and trainers.
  • Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL): radars, communications, electronic warfare and defence electronics.
  • Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL): missiles and guided-weapon systems.
  • BEML: heavy vehicles, engineering equipment and rail systems.

Shipbuilding yards

Warship and submarine construction is led by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (destroyers and submarines), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Goa Shipyard and Cochin Shipyard — the last responsible for India’s indigenous aircraft carrier.

Materials and munitions

Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI) supplies specialised alloys and materials, while the former Ordnance Factory Board has been restructured into seven new defence public sector corporations — including Munitions India and Armoured Vehicles Nigam — to make ammunition and land systems more efficiently.

Role in self-reliance

Together with a growing private sector, the DPSUs supply the bulk of the armed forces’ major platforms and are increasingly export-oriented, anchoring India’s ambition to become a global defence manufacturing hub.