India has granted in-principle approval for a military equipment package worth $11.6 billion, with approximately 98% of the procurements intended to come from Indian industry. The decision places domestic manufacturers at the center of a new round of acquisitions covering the Army, Navy and Air Force, while also highlighting the limits of India’s effort to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
The Defense Acquisition Council, chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, approved the purchases in principle, allowing the procurement process to begin. A Defense Ministry statement reported by Defense News said approximately 98% of the procurements would be made from Indian industry. The funds will come from India’s $86 billion annual defense budget approved earlier in the year.
The package spans a broad set of capabilities. Army requirements include advanced light helicopters, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear reconnaissance vehicles, mine-laying vehicles, high-mobility vehicles and portable bridges for operations across rivers and difficult terrain. The range indicates that the approvals are not limited to a single platform or mission area, but cover mobility, battlefield support and specialized reconnaissance equipment.
For the Navy, the approvals include surveillance radars intended to replace aging systems at naval air stations. They also provide funding to design and develop marine gas turbines domestically. India builds its own warships but continues to import propulsion systems from overseas suppliers, a gap seen as a major strategic vulnerability.
The Air Force portion includes a ground-based multipurpose jammer for electronic warfare. It also covers unspecified equipment intended to improve the war-fighting capability of fighter jets, transport aircraft and helicopters. The description does not identify the equipment or state how many systems are involved.
The domestic sourcing target builds on a broader change in India’s defense manufacturing policy. The government says roughly 65% of the country’s military hardware is now produced domestically. About a decade earlier, roughly two-thirds of India’s military hardware was imported, according to the account. Those figures describe a shift in the reported share of equipment produced inside India, but they do not show that all components or technologies in domestically assembled systems are locally made.
Private companies have gained a larger role alongside state-owned defense manufacturers. Nearly a quarter of the approximately $20 billion worth of defense equipment produced during fiscal year 2025-26 came from private companies. The private sector now produces radars, artillery guns, armored vehicles, missiles, ammunition, drones, small arms, aerostructures and naval systems, according to the report.
Singh said earlier this year that India aims to raise the private sector’s share of defense production to 50%. The stated rationale is that private companies can contribute efficiency, research capabilities and a greater willingness to accept risk. The 50% figure is a national production goal, not a description of the $11.6 billion package’s sourcing breakdown. For this package, the government’s stated target is approximately 98% from Indian industry.
The procurement plan is intended to reduce India’s strategic vulnerability to foreign suppliers and help the military replenish equipment and weapons more rapidly during hostilities. That objective does not eliminate foreign dependence. Some systems, including drones, use imported components such as sensors and avionics, while India continues to rely heavily on foreign suppliers for key platforms including fighter jets.
The result is a distinction between domestic production and complete technological self-sufficiency. India can direct most of this procurement spending to its own industry while still relying on overseas supply chains for components, propulsion systems and major aircraft platforms. The in-principle approvals therefore expand the role of Indian manufacturers without demonstrating that the country has removed its exposure to foreign technology or suppliers.