New Delhi, 13 January (H.S.): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India has now joined the top 25 arms exporters in the world. More than 100 companies of India are exporting products like BrahMos missile, Pinaka rocket system and Dornier aircraft. She said that India has achieved unprecedented growth in indigenous defense production.

Sitharaman, while addressing the fourth convocation of the National Defense University in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on Monday, also emphasized that India has achieved unprecedented growth in indigenous defense production. In the financial year 2023-24, the country has made a record defense production of ₹1.27 lakh crore, which is a 2.7-fold increase compared to FY 2014-15.

She said that the country's defence exports are set to reach an all-time high of ₹21,083 crore in FY 2023-24. India had only ₹686 crore of defence exports in FY 2013-14, a 30-fold increase in a decade.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)was signed between the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) and the Rashtriya Raksha University during the fourth convocation of the Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) located at Lavad-Dehgam, Gandhinagar in the presence of the Finance Minister. The MoU aims to bridge the gap between academia-industry, train professionals and conduct research. Finance, Energy and Petrochemicals Minister of Gujarat Government Kanu Desai, RRU Vice Chancellor Bimal N. Patel and IFSCA President K. Rajaraman were also present on the occasion.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar