Jaisalmer Bureau
Summary: The parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Defence met in Jaisalmer to chart India’s military modernisation, setting targets of Rs 3 lakh crore in defence production and Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports by 2029. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said strategic autonomy and indigenous technological capability are essential to national security.
The Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Defence met in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, on 3 November 2026, with modernisation of the Indian Armed Forces as its theme. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting. It held comprehensive deliberations on emerging security challenges, changing warfare paradigms, technological advances and the need to build a future-ready, technologically empowered and operationally agile military.
A central message from the meeting was that modernisation is not only about buying new weapons. It is about improving readiness, adopting new technology and building long-term indigenous capability. The discussion stressed translating intent into implementation, with clear priorities, institutional mechanisms and measurable milestones so that modernisation produces tangible operational outcomes.
What the meeting covered
The meeting identified six focus areas. The first was capability development and force modernisation, accelerating the induction of next-generation platforms, weapon systems and technologies to improve combat effectiveness and operational preparedness. The second was jointness and integration, strengthening tri-service integration, joint operational planning and the synergised use of capabilities across multiple domains.
The third was indigenous defence manufacturing, giving further impetus to Make-in-India and self-reliance through indigenous research, design, development and manufacturing, with greater participation from domestic industry, startups and academia. The fourth was emerging and disruptive technologies, harnessing artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, unmanned platforms, cyber, space, electronic warfare and advanced communications to prepare for the character of future conflicts.
The fifth was defence research and innovation, strengthening collaboration among the armed forces, the Defence Research and Development Organisation, defence public sector undertakings, private industry and academic institutions so that innovation moves faster into operational capability. The sixth was resource optimisation and implementation, ensuring that modernisation initiatives translate into real operational results rather than remaining plans on paper.
The 2029 targets in context
The targets set for 2029 gain meaning from the trajectory of the past decade. Defence production rose from Rs 46,429 crore in 2014-15 to a record Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26. Defence exports, which stood at less than Rs 2,000 crore in 2014, have grown to approximately Rs 40,000 crore.
Against that background, the meeting set the goal of taking defence production to Rs 3 lakh crore and defence exports to Rs 50,000 crore by 2029. That means production must grow well beyond its present record level, while exports must also rise substantially. The targets are therefore not merely numbers. They imply a wider strategy covering industrial capacity, technology development and India’s standing in the global defence market.
Production and exports are linked. Higher domestic production creates the scale for exports, while exports give production volume, bring down unit costs and support further investment in technology. The meeting’s emphasis was on strengthening that cycle.
Budget and capital spending
The meeting also highlighted the defence budget for financial year 2026-27, which has been increased to a record Rs 7.85 lakh crore, including a capital outlay of Rs 2.19 lakh crore earmarked for modernisation and capital procurement. The capital component is the part of the budget that funds new systems, platforms and technologies, and it therefore shapes the military’s future capability.
Singh stressed that adequate financial resources alone are not enough. Effective utilisation of resources and prioritisation of the services’ critical requirements are equally essential. A larger budget matters only if the money reaches the right programmes, at the right time, and in the right technologies. That point on disciplined spending ran through the meeting’s discussion.
Capital spending is often described as the backbone of modernisation because it determines what the forces will be able to do five or ten years from now. A capital outlay of Rs 2.19 lakh crore is, in that sense, a strong signal of the direction in which the government wants the armed forces to move.
Three pillars: budget, technology and people
The meeting framed modernisation through three dimensions: budget and capital acquisition and self-reliance, technology, and human capital. Each dimension reinforces the others, and weakness in any one of them limits the whole effort.
On technology, the message was that advances are integral to the changing character of conflict. Artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, cyber and space capabilities are no longer peripheral. They are now part of how wars are planned and fought, and forces that fail to keep pace risk falling behind.
On human capital, Singh underlined that the strength of a military is determined not merely by technology and financial resources, but also by the capabilities and preparedness of its personnel. Advanced weapons and systems still depend on the people who operate them, plan with them and take decisions under pressure. Training, leadership and new structures are therefore part of modernisation, not an afterthought to it.
How technology is changing warfare
Warfare today is fought across several domains at once: land, sea, air, space, cyber and information. The meeting’s objective of building a military capable of responding to conventional, sub-conventional and multi-domain challenges reflects that reality. A force prepared for only one kind of conflict is no longer sufficient.
The technologies discussed included artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, unmanned platforms, cyber capabilities, space capabilities, electronic warfare and advanced communications. Their purpose is to detect threats earlier, decide faster, strike with greater precision and keep one’s own communications and systems secure.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s work on advanced weapons, missiles and systems featured in the discussion. The real challenge, as the meeting framed it, is to move research from the laboratory to the field. That requires continuous collaboration among the forces, research bodies, public sector units, private industry and academic institutions.
Indigenous manufacturing and private industry
A major theme was reducing strategic dependence on foreign sources. Strategic autonomy means that for critical defence needs, the country should not remain dependent on supplies, technology or spares whose availability in a crisis cannot be assured. Building a robust domestic defence ecosystem is presented as the answer to that risk.
That ecosystem includes defence public sector undertakings, private companies, micro, small and medium enterprises, startups and academic institutions. The meeting noted that the government is providing a level playing field to the private sector, enabling greater participation from MSMEs to large corporations. Singh described the effort as a whole-of-the-nation approach, expressing satisfaction at the growing contribution of private industry.
When technological development aligns with military requirements, Indian industry gains opportunities and the country’s dependence on foreign sources falls. That alignment is the practical meaning of self-reliance in defence: not isolation from the world, but the capacity to design, build and sustain critical systems at home.
New Army formations: Asani, Bhairav and Shaktiban
The meeting also referred to the Indian Army’s new formations, including the Asani, Bhairav and Shaktiban platoons. Singh said these formations are proving highly effective in addressing contemporary operational requirements and adapting to the changing dynamics of the battlefield.
The three services have continuously refined their structures and formations to stay aligned with the changing requirements of modern warfare. That point matters because it shows modernisation as structural change on the ground, not only as equipment on paper. The flexibility, speed and technological integration of small units can prove decisive in modern conflict.
The reference to new platoons therefore connects the meeting’s high-level targets to changes inside the force itself. Modernisation, in this view, changes how units are organised, trained and employed, as well as what weapons they carry.
What happens next: a phased roadmap
Members of Parliament from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha offered suggestions during the meeting, enriching the consultative process with legislative, strategic and national perspectives. The deliberations translated into a roadmap for action, emphasising prioritisation of critical capabilities, closer coordination among stakeholders, streamlined acquisition and development processes, and periodic assessment against defined objectives.
The meeting stressed a structured, phased approach to modernisation. It emphasised sustained promotion of research and development, indigenous technologies, greater industrial participation and innovation. Modernisation was described as a continuous process, requiring sustained effort to enhance operational preparedness in response to evolving technologies and shifting security requirements.
Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary (Ex-servicemen Welfare) Sukriti Likhi, Secretary (Defence Finance) Vishvajit Sahay and other senior civilian and military officials attended the meeting. Their presence showed that the discussion spanned policy, finance, production and welfare, not only military operations.
What it means in broader terms
The broader significance of the meeting lies in the direction it signals for India’s security strategy. First, it points to greater reliance on indigenous capability for defence needs. Second, it treats technology as central to warfare, not as a supporting tool. Third, the production and export targets form part of an effort to establish India as a stronger player in the global defence market.
Fourth, modernisation is treated as a continuing process rather than a one-time programme. Long-term capabilities, research, industrial participation and innovation must therefore be sustained year after year. For the wider public, the practical implication is a military that is more technologically capable, equipped with more indigenous systems and organised for more integrated operations, with knock-on effects for defence industry jobs, research and exports.
The targets are ambitious, and achieving them will depend on production capacity, technological success and global market conditions. The meeting sets the direction; the pace of delivery will become clear in the years ahead.
Disclaimer: This story has been prepared on the basis of available sources and verification. If any fact is found to be incorrect, a correction will be published.
