"The Draft Defence Production Policy 2018, under consideration now, envisions India to be one of the world’s top five defence producers by 2025 with self-reliance in 13 areas covering almost the entire range of weapons and systems. The export target has been fixed at Rs 35,000 crore ($5 billion) by 2025," said Subhash R Bhamre, Minister of State for Defence.

Addressing The Indo French Defence and Aerospace Cooperation conference in New Delhi, he added, "The Make-in-India initiative offers a valuable opportunity for Indian and French enterprises to enter into arrangements for co-development and co-production of defence equipment in India, including through transfer of know-how and technologies to the mutual benefit of all parties."

He expressed that the complexity of India’s security challenges makes self-reliance in defence all the more important. 

Speaking at the event earlier in the day, Jayant Sinha,Minister of State for Civil Aviation, urged French companies to manufacture in India and export to other parts of the world.

Sinha added that "The potential for Indian & French companies to collaborate for manufacturing & innovation in the defence industry is extraordinary. For companies wanting to develop their businesses, you need to adapt your products for the Indian market."

The minister stated that the civil aviation sector is expected to grow steadily and is gearing-up to handle a billion passenger trips in next 15 to 20 years. He also informed that the Government would bring out a policy on drones and said that India would be the land of “air rickshaws” in future.