Defence Shares Rally After PM Modi Calls For Self-Reliance In Defence Production

Shares of defence equipment manufacturers rallied on Friday a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India has potential to become a reliable defence supplier to friendly countries and boost global peace and also for help world economy become more stable. Following these comments, shares of Bharat Electronics soared 4.5 per cent to Rs 112, Bharat Dynamics zoomed 5.4 per cent to Rs 432, BEML gained 4.35 per cent to Rs 725 and Bharat Forge added 2.2 per cent to Rs 512.

Speaking at a defence industry outreach seminar, PM Modi said India's self-reliance on defence capabilities will boost its standing of being a net security provider in the Indian Ocean and make it a defence supplier for many friendly countries, depending on strategic ties.

Wooing private players, he asserted that the import embargo on a number of defence equipment is not only aimed at curbing imports but also giving a boost to the domestic industry. He said more items will be added to this import embargo list later.

He noted that India has long been one of the biggest defence importers in the world and rued that enough attention was not paid to augmenting domestic production in the past despite the country having inherited a capable ecosystem at the time of Independence.

Meanwhile, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said India's armed forces are committed to hand-hold the domestic industry in developing next generation military platforms and equipment to make the country self reliant in defence manufacturing.

Gen Rawat said nothing will give the armed forces greater satisfaction than fighting and coming out victorious in wars with indigenous technology and equipment.

India has been facing numerous security threats and challenges and they are going to increase manifold in the future, Gen Rawat said, adding that the country has the capability to deal with them.