Gujarat can anchor drive for self-reliance in defence, says Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has pitched Gujarat as a key driver of India’s efforts to achieve defence self-reliance. Speaking on Tuesday (June 30, 2026), he said the State has the industrial capability, skilled workforce, and innovation ecosystem to emerge as a major defence manufacturing and technology hub.

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Addressing the valedictory session of the fourth Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference (VGRC) for the Central Gujarat region in Vadodara, Mr. Singh said India had made remarkable progress in defence production and exports over the past decade but stressed that the country still had “a long way to go” to achieve complete self-reliance.

He said domestic defence production had increased from around ₹46,000 crore in 2014 to nearly ₹1.78 lakh crore, while defence exports had risen from about ₹1,000 crore to ₹39,000 crore during the same period.

“However, I consider this to be merely the beginning. We still have a long way to go, and I believe Gujarat can play a very significant role in the goal of self-reliance in defence production,” he said.

Indigenous defence ecosystem

The Minister said India had transitioned from being largely dependent on defence imports to an indigenous defence ecosystem supported by private industry, startups, and innovation. He attributed the shift to initiatives such as Make in India, the Defence Acquisition Procedure, the Technology Development Fund, the Srijan portal, Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), defence testing infrastructure, Green Channel Certification, and self-certification, which have encouraged MSMEs and startups to enter the sector.

He added that the government had also eased industrial licensing norms and liberalised foreign direct investment policies to attract greater investment in defence manufacturing.

Highlighting Gujarat’s role in the sector, Mr. Singh said Vadodara houses the country’s first private-sector military aircraft manufacturing facility — the Tata-Airbus C-295 transport aircraft programme. The K9 Vajra, self-propelled artillery system, is also manufactured in the State.

He said future warfare and economic growth would increasingly depend on advanced technologies such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and space technology. Semiconductor ecosystems being developed in Sanand and Dholera will strengthen India’s technological sovereignty, while Gujarat’s strengths in engineering, chemicals, ports, shipbuilding, renewable energy, and green hydrogen could support the next generation of defence technologies.

Describing Gujarat as the “growth engine” of the Indian economy, Mr. Singh said the Vibrant Gujarat initiative, launched in 2003 by then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, had evolved into a globally recognised platform for investment and partnerships aligned with the vision of a developed India by 2047.