Top priority to aerospace & defence, says Uttam

Hyderabad: Telangana is aiming to become India's undisputed aerospace and defence capital by 2030, irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said here on Friday at the "MSME Spark 3.0 – Aerospace & Defence Manufacturing" conclave organised by the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) and Telangana industries and commerce department. He said technology-driven warfare and drone systems have become decisive in modern conflicts, and pointed to the role of Indian MSMEs in defence programmes, including contributing nearly 80% of the value in the Akash missile programme.He added that India has already placed defence orders worth nearly 2 lakh crore and has ordered around 220 Tejas fighter aircraft, with the programme's estimated value exceeding 1.19 lakh crore. He also said defence exports have been rising steadily and the defence ministry is targeting 50,000 crore in defence exports by the next two years.DRDO director general Chandrika Kaushik said India's defence budget is 7.85 lakh crore this year, with over 75% of the capital outlay reserved for domestic industry.