Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday (August 14, 2026) said the government has accorded the highest priority to modernising the armed forces and building a self-reliant, future-ready defence sector, with India emerging as a major defence manufacturing hub and net exporter.

Addressing soldiers through Akashvani on the eve of the 80th Independence Day, Mr. Singh highlighted the transformation of the defence sector over the past 12 years under initiatives such as ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’.

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He said domestic defence production had risen from ₹46,000 crore in 2014 to a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26, nearly a four-fold increase. Public sector entities accounted for around 76% of production, while the private sector’s share rose to 24%.

Defence exports, he said, had increased from ₹686 crore in 2013-14 to an all-time high of ₹38,424 crore in 2025-26, a rise of more than 5,500%. India now has 145 defence exporters supplying products to more than 80 countries. Mr. Singh said the government was confident of achieving the ₹50,000-crore defence export target by 2029.

The Defence Minister said the defence budget had increased from ₹2.53 lakh crore in 2013-14 to ₹7.85 lakh crore in 2026-27, while capital expenditure rose to ₹2.19 lakh crore. The R&D allocation has also increased by 90% to ₹29,100 crore.

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Procurement reforms

Over the past year, the Defence Acquisition Council has accorded Acceptance of Necessity to projects worth more than ₹8.75 lakh crore. Mr. Singh also highlighted procurement reforms, including doubling the financial powers of field commanders and facilitating more than ₹1.25 lakh crore of procurement through the revenue route to promote indigenisation.

Listing recent technological achievements, he referred to trials of the Tactical Advanced Range Augmentation system, MIRV-equipped Advanced Agni missile, Long-Range Land Attack Cruise Missile, RudraM-II, Naval Anti-Ship Missile-SR and Pinaka Long-Range Guided Rocket.

He said the successful test of an active-cooled full-scale scramjet combustor for over 1,200 seconds had placed India among select nations pursuing hypersonic missile technology. He also cited the first successful test of the indigenous Kusha long-range surface-to-air missile.

Mr. Singh also underlined the government’s focus on border infrastructure, welfare of serving and retired personnel, and greater participation of women in the armed forces. He cited the commissioning of the first batch of women cadets trained at the National Defence Academy and the tri-service all-women circumnavigation expedition, ‘Samudra Pradakshina’.

Noting that 2026 marks 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram’, Mr. Singh urged citizens to celebrate Independence Day with patriotism and dedicate themselves to nation-building and the goal of Viksit Bharat.

Published - August 15, 2026 12:32 am IST