Military exports have risen sharply and imports have declined on the back of policy initiatives and reforms during the past nine years, the Union government said on Tuesday.

India's defence exports have reached an all-time high worth nearly ₹ 16,000 crore in 2022-23, surging from a mere ₹ 686 crore in 2013-14.

This 23-fold increase reflects India's progress in the global defence manufacturing sector.

"With exports reaching more than 85 countries, India's defence industry has shown its capability of design and development to the world, with 100 firms exporting defence products at present," said the government release.

“To give a push to defence exports, the government has taken a number of policy initiatives and brought reforms over the last nine years. Export procedures have been simplified and made industry-friendly, with end-to-end online export authorisation curtailing delays and bringing ease of doing business,” it added.

The release stressed that India, previously recognized primarily as an importer of defence equipment, has now emerged as an exporter of various significant platforms. “These include aircraft like the Dornier-228, artillery guns, Brahmos Missiles, PINAKA rockets and launchers, radars, simulators, and armoured vehicles."

Furthermore, India, which has been the top arms importer globally over the last decade, relies on Russia for approximately 50% of its military procurement.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement that India's defence production achieved a significant milestone by surpassing ₹1 trillion rupees ($12 billion) in FY23, marking a year-on-year growth of over 12%. This record-breaking achievement is noteworthy as India has been actively striving to reduce its dependency on imports from foreign nations.

The major destinations for India's defence product exports include the likes of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives. Italy, France, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Poland, Spain, Mauritius, Bhutan, Israel and Ethiopia.