Despite the government's ongoing emphasis on "Made in India" in defence production, India continues to languish in the strategically risky and embarrassing position of being the world's largest arms importer, accounting for 11% of all worldwide imports in 2018–22.
Russia continues to be India's top weapons supplier, accounting for 45% of all imports during the 2018–22 period, according to the most recent data on foreign arms transfers published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), despite a diminishing percentage. France accounts for 29%, displacing the US from the second position by riding on deals like the £5.9 billion for 36 Rafale fighters. The US, in turn, notched up 11% of the total weapon sales to India. India is followed by Saudi Arabia (9. 6%), Qatar (6. 4%), Australia (4. 7%), China (4. 6%), Egypt (4. 5%), South Korea (3. 7%) and Pakistan (3. 7%) among the top 10 arms importers.
In order to achieve "atmanirbharta" (self-reliance) in defence production, India, the third-largest military spender in the world after the US and China, has adopted a number of actions. They include announcing four "positive indigenization lists," raising the FDI ceiling, creating "a favourable climate" for Indian vendors, and allocating a record 75% of the 2023–2024 defence capital procurement budget to local companies.
Junior defence minister Ajay Bhatt told Rajya Sabha that the expenditure on defence procurement from foreign sources has reduced from 46% of the overall expenditure in 2018-19 to 36.7% as per data till December 2022 due to the various policy initiatives. But a lot more clearly needs to be done if India has to meet its oft-repeated ambitious target of achieving a domestic turnover of £17.5 billion in the defence and aerospace sectors, including exports of £3.5 billion by 2024-25.