Defence exports could touch $17 bn by FY22: report

Mumbai: If the government’s push to locally manufacture defence equipments fructifies, the sector can fetch close to $17 billion from exports, while it can grow seven times to $41 billion by FY22, says a report. India is the world’s largest importer of defence equipments with tens of billions of dollars in annual purchases of critical equipment for the armed forces.[caption id=“attachment_1821459” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An IAF fighter plane. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] Recently, the government had increased FDI in the sector to 49 percent and last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that MNCs could go in for majority ownership, provided they transfer the technology. “Defence and aerospace exports can touch $16.6 billion if local manufacturing is pushed, while total market for domestic players can grow seven times to $41 billion by 2022 from $6 billion in 2014,” says a report by Centrum Group. The report, written by Sandeep Upadhyay, senior vice president at Centrum Group, which was the first domestic investment bank to offer defence sector advisory services in 2011, further said that of the $41 billion market, 60 percent will be domestic demand and 40 percent will come from exports. He also projected $620 billion defence budget between FY14 and FY22, of which 50 percent would be on capex. On the total defence budget, Upadhyay said the cumulative defence spend between FY14 and FY22 may touch around $620 billion and capex will be half of it while the spend on new armament could be around $51 billion with imported equipment spend at $146 billion. The report also foresees that opportunity for domestic companies from arms acquisitions would grow from $4 billion in FY14 to $24 billion in FY22, growing at 23 percent per annum during the period, as half of the defence equipment is obsolete now. Meanwhile, media reports said Nikhil Gandhi-promoted Pipavav Defence is up for sale and Mahindra and Munjals of Hero MotorCorp are keen on the company. When asked about the evolving scenario in defence sector, investment banker Mahesh Singhi of Singhi Advisors said only those firms with good credibility can thrive in this sector, which is also a must for government support. PTI