India, May 30 -- Strong government support and expanding ecosystem initiatives are significantly boosting the defence sector's growth. The Union Budget for FY26 has allocated Rs. 6,81,000 crore (US$ 78.7 billion), marking a 9.5% rise over FY25.

Programs such as the SRIJAN portal are driving indigenisation, with over 34,000 items listed and around 10,000 already indigenised. Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are strengthening manufacturing clusters, while the iDEX initiative has enabled 430 contracts with startups and MSMEs to promote innovation.

Backed by Goldman Sachs' projection of 32% EPS growth for private defence companies between FY25 and FY28, and expectations of the domestic market reaching Rs. 10,00...