The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reports that last year, the top three Indian defense equipment manufacturers’ arms revenues increased by 8.2% to $7.5 billion.
Only three Indian companies—Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL)—are included in the Top 100 international list of arms producers published on Monday by SIPRI, the leading organization that tracks international arms manufacturing and trade.
SIPRI claimed that HAL remained India’s biggest military producer, with arms revenue of $3.8 billion.
It ranked 44 in the SIPRI list of Top 100 armament manufacturers, down from 42 in 2023, with its revenue decreasing by 0.3 per cent.
HAL develops a range of aviation and space products, many of which are for civilian use.
Of its overall sales of $4 billion, the SIPRI research indicated 95 per cent came from weaponry, and only those were evaluated for the Top 100 ranking.
Among the three Indian firms in the Top 100 ranking, BEL, the country’s second-largest defense manufacturer, saw the most gain in sales, up 23.6% from 2023 to $3.8 billion last year.
“Orders from the Indian government for radars and electronic warfare systems” was the reason given by SPRI for the increase in arms earnings.
Its global rank rose ten places to 58 from 68 in 2023.
According to SIPRI, 89.9% of BEL’s $2.75 billion in total revenue comes from the production of weapons.
The defence sector revenues of MDSL, whose range of products include submarines and warships, climbed by 9.38 per cent last year to $1.12 billion, SIPRI reported.
Its entire revenue last year was $1.37 billion, 89.8 per cent of which came from defence manufacture, and it held the global rank of 91.
Globally, SIPRI stated, the arms revenues of the businesses on the Top 100 list established a new record, climbing by 5.9 per cent in 2024 to $679 billion.
It said, “The rise in the total arms revenues of the Top 100 in 2024 was mostly due to overall increases in the arms revenues of companies based in Europe and the United States”.
The US business, Lockheed Martin, tops the SIPRI Top 100 list, with armament revenues of $62 billion. And four of the following five corporations were also American.
Britain’s BAE Systems was rated fourth.
Russia’s Rostec obtained the seventh spot and China’s AVIC, the eighth.
An earlier SIPRI analysis indicated that India spent $86.23 billion on its defence in 2024.
Pakistan’s military expenditures were $10.165 billion and China’s was $313.67 billion.
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