India to achieve 26 bn dollars Defence Industry by 2025: Rajnath Singh

Defence minister Rajnath Singh has said, India will achieve 26 Billion dollars Defence Industry by 2025. Speaking at the annual function of Society of Indian Defence Manufactures in New Delhi, Mr Singh said, Defence sector has been identified as one of the most prominent sectors under Make in India initiative to realize 5 Trillion dollar Economy by 2024. He said, performance of Indian defence industry has not been commensurate with its potential in past.

The Minister said, a country with such size and global prominence cannot rely on imports for arms. He said, investment of 10 billion US dollar and creation of 2.3 million employment opportunities



is envisaged. Mr Singh said, simplification of procedures for Defence Exports has resulted in export of 10 thousand 745 Crore rupees in 2018-19, which is nearly seven times the export achieved in 2016-17. He said, a target of 5 Billion dollars for exports has been set till 2024.

Referring to the strong IT industry of the country, Mr Singh said that a road map has been prepared to promote Artificial Intelligence in national security to make India a significant power in Defence Artificial Intelligence. It has been planned to develop 25 Defence Specific Artificial Intelligence products by 2024.