Lucknow, Oct. 18 -- Laying stress on self-reliance, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday stated that India's total defence production has reached approximately Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Singh was addressing a traders' meet at Vishwasaraiya Hall organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign in Lucknow. Recalling Mahatma Gandhi's emphasis on Swadeshi, he said it was essential for India's economic growth and development. "India is currently progressing at an unprecedented pace. Today, trade and sales transactions with other countries in the defence sector are increasing. Whereas in the past, even the smallest items were manufactured abroad and imported from there." "When I became defence minister, total defence production here was worth Rs 45,46,000 crore. Now, production has reached approximately Rs 1.5 lakh crore," he said. He mentioned the inauguration of a third production line of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1A at HAL's Nashik unit. "Now, even fighter jets are being manufactured in our country," he said. "We have more retail traders in India than the population of Australia," he said. Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak emphasised the importance of promoting domestic products. Bharatiya Janata Part leader Neeraj Singh appealed to traders to use and promote Swadeshi products. Those present on the occasion included mayor Sushma Kharakwal, district president of Bharatiya Janata Party Anand Dwivedi, MLC Mukesh Sharma, Banwari Lal Kanchal, Amarnath Mishra and a large number of party workers....