Defence Exports Reach Record ₹38,424 Crore, Says Rajnath Singh

The correct answer is ₹38,424 crore. Speaking at the eighth annual session of the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers in New Delhi, the Defence Minister said exports of defence goods had touched this figure in the financial year 2025-26, the highest India has ever reached, and that the rise over the preceding year was more than 60 per cent. Option A is wrong because no such figure was given for the year in question. Option C is wrong as well; it sits between the achieved figure and the target but matches neither. Option D is wrong because it crosses the goal the minister himself described as still ahead, namely ₹50,000 crore of defence exports by the year 2029. Aspirants should hold on to three linked numbers from this event: the achievement of ₹38,424 crore, the growth of over 60 per cent, and the target of ₹50,000 crore by 2029.

The correct answer is 2029. While giving away the SIDM Champion Awards, the Defence Minister repeated the target of lifting India’s defence exports to ₹50,000 crore by that year. The context makes the target easy to fix in memory: exports had just reached a record ₹38,424 crore in the financial year 2025-26, so the goal is a little over the level already achieved. Options A and B are wrong because the target year stated was neither of them, and option D is wrong because it is far later than the year named. Candidates should also recall the companion goal set out in the same speech, which is to raise the private sector’s share of the country’s total defence production from roughly 24 per cent to 50 per cent, a shift the minister said had already gained pace over the last dozen years.

The correct answer is 2017. SIDM was set up in that year and has since grown into a common platform for large defence enterprises, micro, small and medium enterprises, startups, academic institutions and foreign original equipment manufacturers. At its eighth annual session the Defence Minister acknowledged the body’s part in building the domestic defence industrial base and in carrying industry views into policy discussion. Options A, B and D are wrong because none of them is the year of the organisation’s founding. For the examination hall, pair the founding year with the reforms the minister credited for widening private capability: the Defence Acquisition Procedure, the Defence Procurement Manual, the Positive Indigenisation Lists, the SRIJAN portal and Innovations for Defence Excellence, better known as iDEX.

The correct answer is 15. A total of fifteen Champion Awards were handed out, recognising organisations for indigenous technology development, product innovation, design capability, import substitution, excellence in manufacturing and export performance. Option A is wrong, though the number eight does belong to this event in another way, as the awards were given at SIDM’s eighth annual session. Options B and D are wrong because no such count of awards was reported. Keep the two numbers apart in revision: eight for the edition of the annual session and fifteen for the awards. The theme of the session, worth remembering alongside, dealt with sovereign capabilities and contested frontiers, that is, with India’s strategic autonomy at a time of disruption.

The awards covered six broad areas of achievement, namely indigenous technology development, product innovation, design, import substitution, excellence in manufacturing and export performance, and they were given away in New Delhi in the presence of the Defence Secretary, the Director General (Acquisition) and the founder president as well as the serving president of the industry body.