India is focusing on building a robust domestic defence ecosystem, as strategic autonomy and indigenous military capabilities are essential to effectively address national security challenges, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.
Addressing a meeting of the Defence Ministry's Consultative Committee in Jaisalmer, Singh said the government had been strengthening the domestic defence industry as part of efforts to reduce the country's strategic dependence on foreign sources.
"Strategic autonomy and indigenous technological capabilities are essential to safeguarding national security," he said.
The meeting saw extensive discussions on emerging security challenges, warfare paradigms, technological advancements and the need to build a future-ready, technologically empowered and operationally agile military.
Key focus areas included accelerating the induction of next-generation platforms and weapon systems, strengthening tri-service integration and joint operational planning, and ensuring the coordinated application of military capabilities.
Singh emphasised the need for the armed forces to remain prepared to tackle emerging challenges. He outlined steps taken by the government across key areas, including "budget and capital acquisition" and "technology and human capital", to equip the military to meet the evolving demands of technology-driven modern warfare.
He highlighted the government's continued focus on budgetary support and capital acquisition to meet modernisation requirements, stressing the importance of adequate financial resources, their effective utilisation and the prioritisation of the services' critical needs.
Singh said the defence budget for the financial year 2026-27 had been increased to a record Rs 7.85 lakh crore, including a capital outlay of Rs 2.19 lakh crore.
On the government's vision of self-reliance in defence, he said domestic defence production had risen from Rs 46,429 crore in 2014-15 to a record Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26.
Defence exports, which stood at less than Rs 2,000 crore in 2014, had increased to approximately Rs 40,000 crore.
"We aim to achieve defence production worth Rs 3 lakh crore and defence exports worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2029," he added.
Singh underlined the transformative role of technology in modern warfare, saying technological advancements were integral to the changing nature of conflicts.
Highlighting the importance of human capital, he said a military's strength was determined not merely by technology and financial resources, but also by the capabilities and preparedness of its personnel.
"The rapidly evolving nature of warfare necessitates that our defence forces remain aligned with the changing requirements of modern warfare.Keeping this in mind, all three services have continuously refined their structures and formations," he said.
"The Indian Army's new formations, including the 'Asani', 'Bhairav' and 'Shaktiban' platoons, are proving highly effective in addressing contemporary operational requirements and adapting to the changing dynamics of the battlefield," he said.
The defence minister stressed that modernisation was a continuous process requiring sustained efforts to improve operational preparedness in response to evolving technologies, shifting security challenges and changing requirements.
He emphasised the need to build long-term capabilities to ensure that the armed forces remained operationally effective and self-reliant.
According to the Defence Ministry, the meeting stressed the need to translate intent into implementation and highlighted the importance of a structured, phased approach to modernisation.
The objective is to build a military capable of responding effectively to conventional, sub-conventional and multi-domain security challenges, the ministry said.
(With inputs from PTI)
