India aims to triple defence exports to $6.7b, sell fighter jets and copters

BENGALURU - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday set out ambitions to more than triple annual defence exports to US$5 billion (S$6.7 billion) over the next two years, as arms firms flocked to a major air show for a slice of the nation’s massive import budget.

The country is looking to sign defence deals worth 750 billion rupees (S$12 billion) at the biennial five-day Aero India event, its biggest ever.

Its airlines are also trying to complete jetliner purchases to meet civilian demand and press global aircraft manufacturers to produce more locally, mainly through partnerships.

For decades, India has been one of the world’s biggest importers of defence equipment.

However, it has punched below its weight in the global arms export market.

New Delhi’s export ambitions are a sign of its growing clout, as it uses the leverage of huge imports to attract investment in its domestic industry.

“Today, India is not just a market for defence companies, it is also a potential defence partner,” Mr Modi said in a speech at the show. “I call on India’s private sector to invest more and more in the country’s defence sector.”

India exports defence products to 75 countries, he added.

Past Indian exports include Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Dhruv helicopters to the Philippines, Mauritius and Ecuador, and Russia-India venture BrahMos Aerospace’s supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines. HAL has also offered its Tejas light fighter jet for sale to Malaysia.

India has also exported other equipment such as offshore patrol vessels, coastal surveillance systems, avionics, chaff rocket launchers and spares for radars.

The air show aims to promote exports of indigenous air platforms such as Tejas fighter jets, Dhruv choppers, HTT-40 training aircraft, Dornier light-utility helicopters and light-combat helicopters.

India also wants smaller domestic companies and start-ups to make parts for large defence products globally, as well as to attract foreign investment for joint product development and production.

At the Aero India event, held at the Air Force Station of Yelahanka near Bengaluru, officials cheered aerobatic displays by aircraft including Tejas and Russian-made Sukhoi 30 fighter jets.

India shares borders with China and Pakistan, and all three are nuclear-armed. India’s air force fleet is largely from the Soviet era and in desperate need of modernising.

Russia supplied India with around US$13 billion of arms in the past five years, reported Russian state news agencies late on Sunday.

Suppliers in the European Union and the United States have been lobbying for a bigger share of the market.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

has made it imperative for India to further diversify its supply base, amid fears of possible Russian supply disruption and Western pressure on New Delhi to limit ties with Moscow.

Exhibitors at the show include Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Israel Aerospace Industries, BrahMos, Saab, Rolls-Royce, Larsen & Toubro, HAL and Bharat Electronics.

India’s airlines are also expanding. Tata Group’s Air India is expected to announce a potentially record deal

to buy nearly 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing,

worth more than US$100 billion at list prices.

Although unlikely to be announced at the air show itself, the deal coincides with India’s largest industry gathering where suppliers hope to win spin-off contracts from the country’s defence and civil aviation expansion. REUTERS