Such a Long Journey

Cdr S. Shrikumar (retd)

India has among the largest defence industrial complexes in the developing world. It consists of 39 Ordnance Factories (OFs) and nine Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) under the administrative control of the ministry of defence (MoD). Further, there are over 150 large, medium, and small-sized companies in the private sector. In addition, there are around 50 dedicated research laboratories and establishments forming the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the research and development (R&D) wing of the MoD.

India is one of few countries to have designed and produced (albeit with some outside assistance) a fourth-plus generation fighter aircraft, nuclear submarines, main battle tanks, and intercontinental ballistic missiles with a range of more than 5,000km.

Reliance on Imports

Despite this infrastructure, India continues to be overwhelmingly dependent on arms imports to meet its defence requirements. The target of 70 per cent self-reliance in defence procurement set for 2005 is yet to be reached. Currently, India’s self-reliance in arms stands at around 30-40 per cent.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India with a nearly 10 per cent share in global arms imports during 2016-20 was the world’s second-largest arms importer. During this period, China which, not so long ago, was the world’s largest arms importer has graduated to being the world’s fifth-largest arms exporter with a 5.2 per cent share of global arms exports. India’s share by contrast is 0.2 per cent of global arms exports.

Even in the equipment being designed and manufactured domestically, the indigenous content is extremely low. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in a 2011 report to the Parliament, had commented adversely on the 90 per cent import dependency of the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for raw materials and bought out items used in the production of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)—touted as being indigenously designed and developed—even though it had been in production for over a decade.

The Salience of Arms Exports

The MoD’s department of defence production (DDP) recognises the urgent imp