Defence Ministry tightens weapons monitoring
defence ministry is tightening the monitoring of defence equipment being manufactured in India and has asked the industry to strictly follow end-user certification rules when it comes to exports, after some reports of equipment going into the «wrong hands» have come up.
The Indian defence sector has seen a sharp increase in production of arms and weapons for both internal use and export orders in the past few years. Weapons manufacturing is on the rise throughout the world, given the Ukraine-Russia crisis, and multiple reports have emerged of weapons landing up on either side of the conflict without proper authorisation by the country of origin.
The ministry is now looking to set up an internal portal that will monitor consumption patterns of imports being done by defence sector companies, particularly when it comes to explosives and primers.
«We are looking at an internal portal so that when things are imported, we can also monitor them because these should not go into the wrong hands. There are instances we have come across where reports are there that it has gone into the wrong hands,» a senior defence ministry official told industry representatives. He did not specify details of the reported lapses.
Annual defence production by value zoomed to ₹1,08,684 crore in financial year 2022-23, with private companies' share valued at ₹21,083 crore and the rest coming from public sector entities. Exports have also risen to ₹21,083 crore in financial year 2023-24, with private sector companies contributing the
