New Delhi: The Indian Ministry of Defense procures arms from many countries. The good news is that many of these countries are now starting to buy small arms from India as well. According to a Defense Ministry report, the arms factories are selling arms to countries like Israel, Sweden, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Brazil, Bangladesh, Bulgaria etc. The UAE has made the most purchases. Apart from this, efforts are also being made to sell arms to some countries of Europe including France and America.
However, the weapons that are being sold to these countries are not of the same high caliber that we buy from them. Nevertheless, the sale of arms to these countries is proving to be a profitable deal for the Ordnance Factories. These countries have the been sold the cannons of 155 mm, developed by DRDO and are being manufactured by Ordnance Factories. India has been the buyer of weapons of many countries including Israel, Sweden, UAE.
Actually, the Ordnance Factories did not earlier export arms, but were limited to supplies to the military and security forces. But from 2015-16, they were allowed to export. Then they had exported six crores weapons. Exports reached 140 crores in 2019-20 and are projected to reach 225 crores in 2020-21.
According to the ministry, currently the target for Ordnance Factories has been set to achieve one-fourth of its total revenue from exports. The Ordnance Factory Board has been given a target of earning a revenue of 30 thousand crores by 2025 and by this period it is working on a plan to increase its exports to 7500 crores. For this, the Ordnance Factories are being made state-of-the-art and automation in construction is being increased. This will increase the demand for weapons manufactured by them in the international market.