Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said India is not only securing its borders but also positioning itself as a key player in the international defence ecosystem.

He made the remark while speaking at a Defence Conclave in New Delhi.

“The day is not far when India will not only emerge as a developed country, but our Military Power will also emerge as the number one in the world,” he said.

Singh reiterated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the revival and strengthening of the defence sector is one of the biggest priorities for the government.

He further stated that the government’s first and foremost challenge was to change the mindset that India would simply import to meet its defence needs.

“India will reduce its dependency on imports and create a defence industrial complex that will not only meet India’s needs but will also strengthen the potential of defence exports,” he emphasised.

“Today, while India's defence sector is moving ahead on the path of self-reliance, it is also ready to play a very important role in making global supply chains resilient,” Singh emphasised.

He added that the Make in India program is not only strengthening the country's defence production but also has the capability to make the global defence supply chain resilient and flexible.

He further stated that while India's defence manufacturing capabilities are aimed at national security and strategic autonomy, they are also insulating manufacturing from global supply shocks.

Rajnath Singh underlined that India’s growing defence capability is not meant to provoke conflict. “Our defence capabilities are like a credible deterrence, to maintain peace and tranquillity. Peace is possible only when we remain strong,” he added.

On the evolving nature of warfare, Shri Rajnath Singh underscored that in the coming days, conflicts & wars will be more violent and unpredictable. The Cyber & Space Domains are rapidly emerging as new battlefields and along with this, a war of narrative & perception is also being fought all over the world. To address these challenges, he mentioned that the focus is on holistic capacity building and continuous reforms.

Singh also announced that the Ministry of Defence had declared 2025 as the ‘Year of Reforms’.

Reflecting on reforms, Rajnath Singh highlighted that corporatising the over 200-year-old Ordnance Factories was a bold but necessary step. “Today Ordnance Factories are performing very well in their new form and have become profit making units. I believe that changing a structure that is more than two hundred years old is a very big reform of this century” he added.

Singh also outlined the government’s indigenisation drive, noting the release of five positive indigenization lists by the Armed Forces and five by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).

“The total number of defence equipment, weapon systems and platforms included in the list of the Services is 509. These will now be produced in India. Similarly, the total number of items included in the DPSU lists is 5,012 including strategically-important Line Replacement Units, sub-systems, spares and components,” he said.

Rajnath Singh also underlined the fact that the government has reserved 75 per cent of the defence budget for procurement from domestic companies.

He pointed out that defence production in India has risen from Rs 40,000 crore in 2014 to over Rs 1.27 lakh crore today.

“This year, defence production should cross Rs 1.60 lakh crore, while our target is to produce defence equipment worth Rs 3 lakh crore by the year 2029,” he added.

On defence exports, Singh underscored that the figures had surged from Rs 686 crore in 2013–14 to Rs 23,622 crore in 2024–25.