Domestic defence production increased to over Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26: Rajnath Singh | Mumbai News
3 min readMumbaiJun 19, 2026 06:45 PM IST
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday laid the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art 10,000-ton Aluminium Extrusion Press at Yantra India Limited (YIL) at Ordnance Factory Ambajhari, Nagpur, a unit of Yantra India Limited (YIL) in Nagpur, describing the project as a significant step towards strengthening India’s defence manufacturing capabilities and achieving self-reliance in critical defence technologies.
The Bhoomi Pujan ceremony, which began with Vedic chants, was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, YIL Chairman and Managing Director Vijay Kumar Iyer, and senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and YIL.
During his speech highlighting India’s growing defence manufacturing sector, Singh said, “Domestic defence production, which stood at Rs 46,000 crore in 2014, had increased to more than Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26.”
Similarly, he informed that defence exports have risen from around Rs 1,000 crore in 2014 to nearly Rs 40,000 crore currently. “This is not merely growth in numbers. It reflects the growth of India’s capabilities and confidence. We have set a target of achieving Rs 3 lakh crore in defence production and Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports within the next few years, and I am confident we will achieve it ahead of schedule,” he said.
The proposed press will support the manufacture of large and complex aluminium alloy profiles required for defence systems and platforms, aerospace and aviation structures, missile programmes, railways and transportation sectors and other strategic industrial applications. The project will help reduce dependence on imports of critical aluminium extrusions and strengthen the domestic supply chain, while supporting the future requirements in strategic sectors through indigenous production.
Speaking at the event, Rajnath Singh congratulated Yantra India Limited (YIL) and noted that this was the first such foundation-laying ceremony he had attended at a corporatised ordnance factory unit after the restructuring of the Ordnance Factory Board.
“The work that begins here today will have an impact for decades. It will strengthen both the country’s defence preparedness and the development of Nagpur. This Bhoomi Pujan symbolises a changing India, an India that is increasingly producing at home what it once depended on others to supply,” he said.
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