The Ministry of Defence is increasing its oversight of defence equipment manufacturing in India and emphasising strict adherence to end-user certification rules for exports, following reports of defence equipment ending up in unauthorised hands, according to a report.
In recent years, India’s defence sector has experienced a significant surge in arms and weapons production for both domestic use and international export.
This uptick in oversight also aligns with global trends driven by conflicts like the Ukraine-Russia crisis, which have led to weapons appearing on both sides of such conflicts without proper authorisation from the originating country.
Defence manufacturing in India
New monitoring measures
In response, the ministry is planning to establish an internal portal to monitor the consumption patterns of imports by defence companies, focusing on critical items like explosives and primers.
Export regulations and compliance
The official stressed the importance of careful management of arms exports, urging industry players to ensure that purchasing countries certify they will not transfer the weapons to third parties.
Due to the present geo-political scenario, the defence manufacturing industry must have an entire chain of end-users and governments of countries purchasing arms must declare that they will not send the exports to any other country, the official said.
While the Indian government encourages arms exports, stringent regulations remain in place for certain nations. Currently, Indian companies are prohibited from exporting weapons to Ukraine, and most companies avoid direct dealings with Russia to evade Western sanctions.
