The arms sales of Hindustan Aeronautics (ranked 42nd) and Bharat Electronics (ranked 63th) increased by 6.7 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, over the last year. “The total arms sales of the two Indian companies in the top 100 were $5.1billion (approximately Rs 40,000 crore) in 2021,” the SIPRI report said.
Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi: Two Indian military equipment-making companies have made it to the list of top 100 global companies making arms, weapons, military planes and equipment, a speial report by Ajay Banerjee in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released details on Monday, December 5 by in its report ‘Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies, 2021’.
The arms sales of Hindustan Aeronautics (ranked 42nd) and Bharat Electronics (ranked 63th) increased by 6.7 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, over the last year.
The two companies — Defence Ministry-owned Public Sector Undertakings — have improved their rankings. While HAL was at 43rd position, BEL was at 69th position in last year’s rankings.
“The total arms sales of the two Indian companies in the top 100 were $5.1billion (approximately Rs 40,000 crore) in 2021,” the SIPRI report said.
Both companies have benefited from major orders placed by the Indian armed forces in recent years, it said.
In 2020, the Indian government announced a phased ban on imports of more than a hundred different types of military equipment.
Overall globally, the sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest companies reached $592 billion in 2021, a 1.9 per cent increase.
For the second successive year, China has been placed at second spot behind the US in making arms, weapons and military equipment. The combined arms sales of the eight Chinese companies included in the ranking amounted to $109 billion, a 6.3 per cent increase over last year.
The growth in arms sales reflects the scale of China’s military equipment modernisation and its objective to become self-reliant in the production of all categories of major arms. Four Chinese companies have been ranked in the top 10, the SIPRI said.
All Chinese companies in the list are state-owned enterprises producing both military and civilian products.
The 40 US companies in the listing totalled $299 billion in sales during 2021.
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