HAL leads as Indian defence giants see 8.2% revenue surge in SIPRI global arms report

New York: India’s leading defence manufacturers posted an 8.2 per cent rise in arms revenues last year, reaching a combined total of $7.5 billion, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

SIPRI’s annual Top 100 ranking of global arms producers, released on Monday, includes only three Indian companies: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL). Together, they remain India’s key contributors to the global defence industry.

HAL retained its position as the country’s largest defence manufacturer with arms revenues of $3.8 billion. Despite this, its global ranking slipped from 42 to 44, with SIPRI noting a marginal 0.3 per cent decline in its defence earnings. Although HAL has diverse operations in aviation and space, including civilian projects, the report states that 95 per cent of its $4 billion total revenue was derived from arms production.

BEL reported the strongest growth among the Indian firms, with arms revenues rising by 23.6 per cent to $3.8 billion. SIPRI attributed this surge to increased domestic orders for radars and electronic warfare systems. The boost helped the company climb ten places in the global list, moving from 68 to 58. BEL generated 89.9 per cent of its overall $2.75 billion revenue from defence manufacturing.

MDSL, which specialises in submarines and warships, registered a 9.38 per cent increase in defence revenue, reaching $1.12 billion. With 89.8 per cent of its $1.37 billion total revenue linked to arms production, the company retained its global ranking of 91.

American producers top global list

On a global scale, SIPRI reported that arms revenues among the Top 100 producers hit a new peak, rising 5.9 per cent in 2024 to a total of $679 billion. The institute said the growth was “mostly due to overall increases in the arms revenues of companies based in Europe and the United States”.

Lockheed Martin topped the global list with $62 billion in arms revenues, followed by other major American firms dominating the top tier. Britain’s BAE Systems ranked fourth, Russia’s Rostec seventh and China’s AVIC eighth.

SIPRI’s earlier report on global defence expenditure placed India’s military spending at $86.23 billion in 2024, compared with Pakistan’s $10.165 billion and China’s $313.67 billion.

IANS