Explainer: Why Air Chief’s concern over delays in defence production is significant

About a fortnight after several made-in-India weapon platforms — including cruise missiles, drones and air defence systems — made their mark during the battle under Operation Sindoor and underscored the importance of indigenous war-fighting equipment and self-reliance, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh has flagged consistent delays in defence production. Delays directly impact operational preparedness and derail modernisation plans. While indigenous defence production, dominated by the public sector, has made significant strides, some challenges still need to be redressed, especially in view of the security challenges on the horizon and the geostrategic situation being in a flux. Speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit-2025, the Air Force Chief said that the timeline was a big issue. “Once a timeline is given, not a single project that I can think of has been completed on time. So this is something we must look at. Why should we promise something which cannot be achieved? While signing the contract itself, sometimes we are sure that it is not going to come up, but we just sign the contract," he remarked. Highlighting the changing character of war with new technologies coming in every day, he stressed the need for timely induction of new technologies into the Indian Armed Forces and realigning thought processes to meet present and emerging requirements. At the same event, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh highlighted the government’s ongoing reforms for improving the defence manufacturing ecosystem. “India’s Defence vision is intrinsically linked to ‘atmanirbharta’, strategic autonomy and the broader aspiration of a Viksit Bharat with expanded GDP contribution from defence manufacturing,” he said. The Air Chief’s remarks came on a day when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved the grant of “Miniratna" status to three defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) – Munitions India Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited and India Optel Limited for their transformation from a government organisation to a profit-making corporate entity in a short span of three years. Selected central public sector enterprises, including those under the MoD which dominate the defence industry, are accorded miniratna, navratna or maharatna status on the basis of their performance and profit generation and the status grants them increasing levels of financial autonomy and strategic decision-making powers. The Comptroller and Auditor General has often pinpointed delays, abandoned projects, cost overruns and failure to meet targets by government-owned research and manufacturing establishments. Over the past decade, a great deal of emphasis has been laid on self-reliance in the defence sector and about 65 per cent of defence equipment is now manufactured domestically, a significant shift from the earlier 65-70 per cent import dependency, according to the MoD. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on May 29 that the annual defence production value has crossed an all-time high figure of Rs 1,46,000 crore, compared to just about Rs 43,000 crore a decade ago. Advanced military platforms — including ballistic missiles, BrahMos cruise missile, Dhanush artillery gun system, advanced towed artillery gun system, rockets, Arjun Main Battle Tank, light specialist vehicles, high mobility vehicles, Tejas light combat aircraft, Dhruv advanced light helicopter, light utility helicopter, Akash air defence missile system, armed and unarmed drones, anti-drone systems, surveillance and weapon locating radar, 3-D tactical control radar, software defined radio, electronic warfare systems, small arms, ammunition as well as naval assets like destroyers, aircraft carriers, submarines, frigates, corvettes, fast patrol vessels, fast attack craft and offshore patrol vessels — have been produced indigenously. Several other critical platforms are also being manufactured under licence. The defence industrial base includes 16 DPSUs, over 430 licensed companies and approximately 16,000 MSMEs, strengthening indigenous production capabilities. Once the exclusive domain of the public sector and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the defence manufacturing as well as research domains are witnessing increasing forays by the private sector. The majority share in the defence business continues to be dominated by the public sector, with the private sector at present contributing 21 per cent to the total defence production in India.  Private sector is increasingly being tapped by the MoD for indigenisation development and make-in-India projects as is evident from the contents of requests for proposals or expressions of interest issued by the ministry. With greater participation, the private sector’s share is expected to increase over time. Besides strengthening the defence manufacturing eco-system, these public and private entities are also generating employment for lakhs of persons across all hierarchical levels and skill-sets. Defence exports, too, are on the rise. From around Rs 600-700 crore 10 years ago, these have surpassed a record figure of Rs 24,000 crore. Indian weapons, sub-systems, components, items of personal use and services are reaching around 100 countries. Some countries have also envisioned interest in top-of-the-line Indian platforms like the BrahMos cruise missile, Akash air defence system and Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher. According to the MoD, strategic policies have fuelled this momentum, encouraging private participation, technological innovation, and the development of advanced military platforms. Besides, policy measures like liberalising foreign direct investment rules, setting up defence corridors and enhancing the ease of doing business, initiatives like iDEX and SAMARTHYA are driving technological advancements in artificial intelligence, cyber warfare and indigenous weapon systems. Over 14,000 items have been indigenised under the ministry’s SRIJAN scheme and 3,000 under the positive indigenisation lists. Launched in April 2018, Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) has created an ecosystem for innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace. By engaging MSMEs, startups, individual innovators, research and development institutes and academia, iDEX has provided grants of up to Rs 1.5 crore for developing innovative technologies. To further enhance self-reliance in defence technology, Rs 449.62 crore has been allocated to iDEX, including its sub-scheme Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI), for 2025-26. As of February 2025, 549 problem statements have been opened, involving 619 startups and MSMEs, with 430 iDEX contracts being signed. In the backdrop of this, the MoD has set a target of Rs 3 lakh crore in defence production by 2029 and of Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports by then, which are roughly double the present figures – an ambitious goal for a four-year period. Defence experts have repeatedly stressed upon bolstering military modernisation because of the multiple security challenges faced by India, juxtaposed by the frequently shifting global power dynamics and constantly evolving geopolitical environment that not only impact supply chains but also have political, diplomatic and financial ramifications. However, issues in the procurement as well as indigenous production of defence equipment continue to linger. These include inadequate inter-service jointness and long-term perspective planning, technological gaps in certain critical areas and lack of raw material leading to dependence on imports, bureaucratic delays in the procurement process and long timelines between the approval of contracts and the delivery of equipment and insufficient budgetary support. The 2025-26 budget for the MoD is Rs 6.81 lakh crore but only ₹1.8 lakh crore is for modernisation of the military, resulting in a gap between requirement and availability of funds. The provision for defence research and development remains meagre, with DRDO’s allocation being only 3.94 per cent of the total defence budget.

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