The Paradox of Defence Atmanirbharta: Self-Reliance Is the Costliest Way to Buy a Weapon

Source: Original editorial ↗ The Indian Express

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The Lift Line

“Paradoxically, atmanirbharta, which involves designing, developing, testing and manufacturing the platform, constitutes the most expensive acquisition method.”

Why This Editorial Matters for Your Exam

Ajai Shukla, a retired Army officer and defence journalist, challenges a consensus that is rarely questioned: that self-reliance is always the right goal. For GS3 answers on defence indigenisation, it supplies the counter-argument and a practical middle path. It also bears on our earlier editorial on private defence manufacturers, which focused on capital and competition.

GS Paper 3: Security challenges and their management; indigenisation of technology and developing new technology; defence production and exports; industrial policy.

Background and Context

The slogans and the policy.

Initiative	Year
Make in India	2014 (launched 25 September)
Atmanirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local	2020
Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)	2020: “Buy (Indian-IDDM)”, indigenously designed, developed and manufactured, is the top category
Positive indigenisation lists	From 2020: items the forces must buy from Indian sources after set dates

The numbers.

Indicator	Figure (source)
Defence production, 2025-26	Rs 1.78 lakh crore, a record, up from Rs 1.54 lakh crore in 2024-25 (Defence Ministry)
Defence production, 2014	About Rs 46,000 crore (the author)
Defence exports, 2025-26	Rs 38,424 crore, up 62.66 per cent from Rs 23,622 crore (Defence Ministry; the column prints Rs 38,434 crore)
Export target	Rs 50,000 crore by 2028-29 (the Defence Minister, as the author reports)
Private sector share of production, 2025-26	About 24 per cent (Defence Ministry)
Global standing	Fifth-largest spender; second-largest importer after Ukraine (the author, citing international rankings)

The acquisition cost hierarchy the author describes, cheapest first.

Method	Example
Lease for the period needed	India’s lease of the nuclear submarine INS Chakra from Russia (2012-2021) and of MQ-9B drones from the US (2020)
Buy off the shelf	Direct import of a finished platform
Licensed production	Buying technology and building in India, as with the Su-30MKI at HAL
Indigenous design and development	Tejas light combat aircraft; the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) under development

The Analysis

1. Nobody disputes the goal, which is the problem. Given India’s reliance on imports, any call to indigenise seems beyond argument, and critics risk being accused of serving foreign arms makers.

2. Autarky is expensive. Up to 40 per cent of the cost of “Indian” platforms, including the Tejas, naval warships and many tactical missiles, goes to imported materials, components and systems. Developing every element at home would raise costs unacceptably.

3. The world’s best do not try. Leading defence manufacturers keep control of key technologies and buy the rest from established specialists. About 50 to 55 per cent of the world’s combat aircraft use ejection seats from Britain’s Martin-Baker, including the F-35.

4. Know what is critical. The Tejas’s edge is its manoeuvrability, from an unstable design controlled by a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system. India developed that software and is extending it to the Tejas Mark 2 and the AMCA. That, the author argues, is the kind of technology self-reliance should target.

5. Project management is the key skill. Deciding what to develop, what to source, and when to close a project will decide whether atmanirbharta is financially viable.

6. Interdependence deters. Embargoes can be deterred by making Indian firms important links in the global supply chains of foreign manufacturers, creating mutual vulnerability. And a middle power dependent on imported oil cannot be fully self-sufficient anyway.

Data and Institutions Vault

Prelims-grade facts:

Production and exports:

• Defence production 2025-26: Rs 1.78 lakh crore (record); 2024-25: Rs 1.54 lakh crore.
• Defence exports 2025-26: Rs 38,424 crore, up 62.66 per cent; 2024-25: Rs 23,622 crore.
• Private sector share of production in 2025-26: about 24 per cent.

Policy:

• DAP 2020: Buy (Indian-IDDM) is the highest-priority category.
• Positive indigenisation lists: first issued in 2020 by the Department of Military Affairs.

Platforms:

• Tejas: light combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), built by HAL.
• AMCA: fifth-generation fighter programme led by ADA.

⚠️ Watch the trap: the record export figure for 2025-26 is Rs 38,424 crore (Defence Ministry); some reports print it as Rs 38,434 crore.

The Debate

For the author’s view. Selective indigenisation gives most of the strategic benefit at a fraction of the cost and time, and supply-chain integration is a better shield against embargoes than autarky.

The complications. Foreign dependence has cost India repeatedly: sanctions, delayed deliveries and spares shortages, as with Russian supplies after 2022. The cost premium of indigenisation buys jobs, an industrial base and exports, which help recover development costs. And the line between “critical” and “non-critical” shifts: engines were once treated as buyable, and delays in foreign engine supplies have held up the Tejas programme.

The balanced verdict. Adopt selective self-reliance: map critical technologies (engines, seekers, radars, flight control, secure communications) at the start of each programme, invest in them at home, buy mature sub-systems abroad, discipline project management, and pursue co-development and exports to make India indispensable in supply chains.

How to Think About This

Separate the platform from its critical technologies. A question on self-reliance is sharper if you distinguish what gives the platform its combat edge or strategic leverage from what is commodity. Self-reliance in the former is strategy; in the latter it can be waste.

Diagram-in-Words

Takeaway Box

• Paradox: atmanirbharta is the costliest acquisition route.
• Record: production Rs 1.78 lakh crore, exports Rs 38,424 crore (2025-26).
• Reality: up to 40 per cent of “Indian” platforms is imported content.
• Model: keep critical tech (Tejas fly-by-wire), source the rest (ejection seats).
• Shield: supply-chain interdependence, not autarky.

Sources: The Indian Express, PIB, defence production 2025-26, PIB, defence exports 2025-26

Source: The Paradox of Defence Atmanirbharta: Self-Reliance Is the Costliest Way to Buy a Weapon — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Editorial Analysis

Key Arguments at a Glance

Ajai Shukla argues that complete defence self-reliance is the most expensive way to acquire weapons, that even the leading defence economies buy many sub-systems from specialists, and that India should identify and master only the critical technologies in each platform, manage projects well, and use its place in global supply chains as a deterrent against embargoes.

✓ Supporting

• The cost hierarchy in defence acquisition runs from leasing (cheapest and quickest) to buying off the shelf, to licensed production, to indigenous design and development (costliest).
• India was the world’s fifth-largest defence spender last year and the second-largest arms importer after Ukraine, the author writes, while domestic defence production rose from about Rs 46,000 crore in 2014 to Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2025-26.
• As much as 40 per cent of the cost of “Indian” platforms such as the Tejas fighter goes on imported materials, components and systems.
• About 50 to 55 per cent of the world’s combat aircraft use Martin-Baker ejection seats; developers seldom design their own.
• The Tejas’s quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system, developed at home and now being extended to the Tejas Mark 2 and AMCA, shows where self-reliance truly counts.

⚠ Counter

Dependence on foreign suppliers has repeatedly exposed India to sanctions, delays and spares shortages, as with Russian equipment after 2022; the cost premium of indigenisation buys strategic autonomy, jobs and an industrial base; and exports now help recover development costs.

→ Way Forward

Identify critical technologies at the start of each programme and develop them at home, source mature sub-systems from global leaders, strengthen project management and the discipline to close failing projects, and integrate Indian firms into global defence supply chains to create mutual dependence.