Overview
- Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said an RFP for domestically manufactured MALE drones worth about ₹30,000 crore will be issued soon.
- He is seeking a 10% overall budget increase and will press for 17–18% growth in capital outlays while recommending total defence spending of 2.5–3% of GDP.
- The ministry has set a normative target to spend at least 75% of defence capex within India after achieving about 88% last year.
- Additional orders of up to ₹75,000 crore this fiscal are being considered for drones and AWACS, with a possible announcement on 4.5‑generation fighters later this year.
- Planned capital spending is at least $25–30 billion annually over the next decade, with the roadmap indicating potential outlays of $35 billion or more per year and reforms to expand private‑sector production capacity.