India's defence manufacturing sector has expanded significantly over the past decade, with defence production reaching around ₹1.8 lakh crore, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday. Singh said the increase in domestic production, along with the growth in defence exports, reflected India's progress towards greater self-reliance in the defence sector.
The Defence Minister was speaking after laying the foundation stone for a ₹472-crore facility for the overhaul of T-series battle tanks at the 57-year-old Vehicle Factory Jabalpur (VFJ) in Madhya Pradesh. According to Singh, India's defence exports have also increased to nearly ₹39,000 crore over the last decade. The government has set a target of achieving defence exports worth ₹50,000 crore by 2028–29.
Singh said India's defence capability was no longer limited to manufacturing weapons and equipment. He highlighted the country's growing ability to maintain, overhaul and upgrade military platforms domestically. The new VFJ facility is expected to strengthen India's capacity to service T-72 and T-90 tanks used by the Indian Army.
The Defence Minister said the facility is planned to overhaul around 80 tanks annually. The Army requires the overhaul of approximately 230 T-72 and T-90 tanks every year, while the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) at Avadi currently handles around 150 tanks annually.
The Jabalpur facility is therefore expected to address part of the remaining overhaul requirement. Singh also said the project would contribute to employment opportunities for people in the region and expressed confidence that the facility would be completed on schedule and meet the required quality standards. The Vehicle Factory Jabalpur was established in 1969. It initially manufactured Shaktiman 3-tonne vehicles in collaboration with Germany's MAN, along with Nissan 1T and Jonga vehicles produced in collaboration with Japan's Nissan Motors.
Editorial Analysis
Why This Matters
The project is significant because military self-reliance depends not only on producing new platforms but also on maintaining and upgrading existing equipment. Increasing domestic overhaul capacity can reduce dependence on overseas support, improve equipment availability and strengthen India's ability to sustain major military platforms over their service life.
The factory complex covers around 330 acres, while its adjoining estate extends over another 600 acres, officials said.
Editorial Insight
India's defence self-reliance story is increasingly moving beyond “making weapons in India” to building the full industrial ecosystem around military equipment.
The tank-overhaul facility is an example of that shift: maintaining and upgrading platforms domestically can be just as important as producing new ones when the objective is long-term operational independence.
