Defence Stocks Surge On Import Curbs

India's defence stocks surged after the nation announced curbs on the import of 101 weapons and military platforms, including light combat helicopters, transport aircraft, conventional submarines and cruise missiles by 2024 — a moved aimed at safeguarding the domestic manufacturers.

The import restrictions, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said, are expected to offer contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore to the domestic defence industry within the next five to seven years. The "big push" is to boost the indigenous defence manufacturing in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.

The ministry has also bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for capital procurement in the current financial year, Singh said.