New Delhi, NFAPost: Defence contracts worth around Rs 2 trillion will be signed in the current financial year, with the bulk once again going to the domestic industry, as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) aims to sustain the pace of contract signings achieved in 2024–25 (FY25), Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on Wednesday in an interview with a news channel.
Underscoring that the value of contracts awarded by the MoD in FY25 had touched Rs 2.09 trillion—the highest ever, and double the previous record set in FY24—the Secretary said: “I won’t speak about next year, but going forward, we should be able to sustain higher levels of expenditure. For instance, this year we’ve already begun strongly, having achieved nearly 22% of our annual spend early on.”
He added that if the high levels of utilisation are maintained, the MoD could make a stronger case for a larger budgetary allocation. “If you’re asking whether we deserve a higher share of GDP—yes, we should,” he said.
Of the 193 contracts signed by the MoD in FY25, 177 (92%) were awarded to the domestic industry, with a value of about Rs 1.69 trillion, accounting for 81% of the total value.
Highlighting the goal of aatmanirbharta (self-reliance), the Secretary said the MoD’s policy is to make imports the exception, not the norm. “Our intent is to manufacture in India, preferably with design also in India. Where we don’t have the technology, we will opt for technology transfer. We will encourage public and private industries to get those technologies, but the manufacturing process will have to be in India,” he said.
He added: “When it comes to foreign original equipment manufacturers, they will have to set up business in India in order to get access to our procurement orders.”
Stressing the need to adapt to emerging trends in warfare, the Secretary said domestic production of military unmanned systems must be scaled up.
“India’s drone manufacturing ecosystem, for the most part, is confined to drones that are not military grade. When we conducted trials recently, we didn’t find too many manufacturers who are achieving military grade drone technology capacity. However, there are at least three or four promising companies, some of which are indigenous while others have technology tie-ups with foreign vendors,” he said.
“We are hoping some of them will come of age, and we will have our own large domestic drone manufacturing capacity in the country because India needs to be a drone superpower in order to enhance its military prowess.”
The Secretary also assured that nearly all major programmes would be awarded through competitive bidding—not nomination—to enable price discovery and ensure private sector participation.
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