HIGHLIGHTING the rapidly growing presence of private players in various fields, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said at least 50 percent of the country’s total defence production should come through the private sector. He was expressing his views at the inaugural function of Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited’s (SDAL) state-of-the-art Medium Calibre Ammunition Manufacturing Facility at Bazargaon. Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule; former MP Ajay Sancheti; Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh; Chairman of Solar Industries Satyanarayan Nuwal; Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company Manish Nuwal; and others were also present on the occasion. Rajnath Singh said, “The nature of warfare has changed significantly in the current scenario. Wars are no longer fought only on borders.In fact trade, energy, supply chains, technology, and information have become new dimensions of conflict between countries.

 

Despite these changes, our country has remained firm on key parameters such asdefence,weapons,and defence manufacturing.Thisis possible because of the growing participation of the private sector,” Rajnath Singh said. “We want the role of private players in all sectors to increase further in the coming days. To achieve this, our Government is taking all possible steps,” he said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also highlighted that the country’s domestic defence production surged from approximately Rs 46,000 crore in 2014 tooverRs 1.5lakhcrore recently, with the private sector contributing nearly Rs 30,000 crore, highlighting a major shift towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in defence manufacturing. Rajnath Singh pointed out that India has a unique and effective combination of public and private players in defence production.

 

“On one hand, we have a well-established and experienced public sector,whileon the other hand, there are rapidly growing large private players.This balance is rare in the world,” he said, underlining that the Government is leaving nostone unturned to further strengthen this combination. Rajnath Singh further noted Solar Group’s ongoing development of the Bhargavastra anti-drone system—a micromissile-based hard-kill solution that has already undergone successful test launches. He also commended the Pinaka rocket system, now being manufactured at the facility and exported, with induction into the Indian Army planned in the coming days. Medium-calibre ammunition (23 mm to 40 mm class) forms the backbone ofinfantry combat, armoured vehicles, naval gun systems, and aircraftmounted cannons.

 

Currently, a significant proportion of these critical munitions is imported, exposing India to risks from export controls, geopolitical uncertainties, and logistics disruptions. To address this vulnerability, Solar Group has established a fully automated, state-of-theart manufacturing facility for 100 per cent indigenous 23 mm, 30 mm, and 40 mm ammunition. The company has also set up a fully instrumented inhouse firing test range for dynamic evaluation of 30 mm ammunition and 40 mm grenades, with a dedicated range for 23 mm ammunition slated to become operational within the next three months. Duringhis visit, the Defence Minister lauded Solar Group’s Pinaka Rocket Integration Facility for Pinaka ADM-1, Pinaka ADM-2, Pinaka Extended Range, and Pinaka Guided variants.

 

On the occasion, he and the Defence Secretary flagged off a consignment of Pinaka Guided Rockets. In alignment with modern battlefield requirements,Solar Group has expanded its defence portfolio to include landmines, warheads, missiles, universal airbombs, and weaponised drones as force multipliers. The company successfully developed and delivered India’s first indigenous loitering munition, Nagastra-1, to the Indian Army. Advanced variants - Nagastra-2 and Nagastra-3 - are in the final stages of development. Solar is also advancing the Bhargavastra hard-kill system based on micro-missiles. Further strengthening its unmanned systems capabilities,Solar Group has launched a major programme for Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) and High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) class UAVs for surveillance and combatroles.To support in-house testing of these large platforms, the company has constructed a 1.25km-long dedicated runway for take-off and landing operations.