Until recently, India’s approach to ammunition was paradoxical. It fielded one of the world’s largest standing forces and invested lavishly in tanks, fighters, and ships, while treating bullets, shells, and propellants almost as an afterthought. Stockpiles ran thin, production was lethargic, and imports filled key gaps. In moments of crisis, readiness depended less on doctrine than on shipping schedules and foreign goodwill.

Ammunition, the least glamorous element of military power, became its most persistent weakness.

That imbalance is now being corrected — deliberately, systematically, and at speed.

Rebuilding Ammunition Ecosystem

Over the past five years, India has begun rebuilding its ammunition ecosystem from the ground up. State monopolies have been dismantled, private capital welcomed, export rules loosened, and capacity expanded with an urgency shaped by recent wars abroad. What was once a closed corner of the defence economy is being recast as a competitive industrial sector with global ambitions.

For decades, India’s ammunition production was dominated by government-owned ordnance factories. These were vast, inefficient monopolies that compromised national interest with poor-quality ammunition. The turning point came when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh corporatised these legacy ordnance factories, converting them into commercially structured enterprises – a bold reform.

This matters because ammunition manufacturing is unforgiving. Margins are thin, quality thresholds are absolute, and failure is expensive. Corporatisation imposed balance sheets, boards, and performance metrics — basic tools but revolutionary in a sector long shielded from market forces. It also allowed these firms to partner with private players, license technology, and bid aggressively for export orders.

Yet state reform alone would not suffice. The real inflection point lay in opening the sector to private industry at scale. Licensing norms for ammunition production were simplified, procurement rules adjusted to allow long-term contracts, and export processes — once tangled in red tape — were streamlined.

Ammunition was no longer treated as a quasi-taboo export; it became a pillar of industrial strategy.

Some results are already on the ground. For 155 mm "Smart" Shells, a collaboration has happened with IIT Madras and Munitions India Limited. However, the Indian satellite GPS NavIC is not reliable as of now. In the long run, though, Indian GPS-guided artillery shells turning standard "dumb" bombs into precision-guided munitions will be a reality.

India is making and exporting Pinaka Mk-II & ER. The Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL)'s range is now beyond 75 km with guided accuracy.

Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) is also on order, and its fully indigenised 155 mm/52 calibre gun is now one of the longest-range guns in its class globally.

Logic Of Self-Reliance

This industrial push is anchored in military requirement math. Modern wars consume ammunition at breathtaking rates. Recent conflicts have shown that artillery shells, rockets, and small-arms rounds are expended faster than even advanced economies can replenish them. For India, dependence on imports could halt war fighting in its tracks. 

The response has been systematic indigenisation. India has set an explicit target of nearly complete self-reliance in ammunition by the end of 2025. Over 150 of the roughly 175 ammunition variants used by the Army are already produced domestically; the proportion of imported ammunition has fallen from roughly one-third a few years ago to below 10% today. Production lines now deliver 105mm, 130mm, and 155mm artillery shells, tank rounds, and infantry cartridges at scales not seen before.

Domestic industry figures confirm the scale of this pivot.

India’s ammunition market — defined here as bullets, aerial bombs, grenades, mortars, and artillery shells — was worth $875 million in 2025, and is forecast to exceed US$1 billion a year by 2028.

Brigadier (Rtrd.) Sanjay Khanna explains, “The innovation in India’s ordnance policy has been driven by a "hybrid" model where DRDO designs, DPSUs (like Munitions India Limited) mass-produce, and Private players  (like Adani, Solar, and Tata) innovate on speed and specialised tech.”

Private Sector Steps In

If policy provided the fuse, private industry supplied the explosive force. Indian firms long at the periphery of defence production are now central to ammunition manufacturing.

Solar Industries India stands out as a bellwether. Traditionally a major producer of industrial explosives, it has expanded into military-grade ammunition and propellants, with export contracts running into multiple billions of rupees. Its facilities produce everything from small-arms cartridges to high-calibre artillery rounds, helping to ensure both India’s armed forces and foreign customers are supplied at competitive rates.

Premier Explosives, another domestic champion, specialises in propellants and energetic materials — the heart of any ammunition round. Its products feed both state and private assembly lines, illustrating that ammunition production is not a single factory business but a network of chemical suppliers, machining units, and quality-assurance systems.

Larger conglomerates have also stepped in. Adani Defence & Aerospace’s Kanpur facility alone has a capacity of around 150 million small-calibre rounds annually, with plans to double that figure. It is also producing NATO-standard cartridges (including 5.56×45mm and 7.62×51mm) for export, reaching overseas buyers and boosting India’s presence in global supply chains.

Across the sector, private manufacturing capacity for 155mm artillery shells — one of the most sought-after categories worldwide — is expanding rapidly, with production capacities that were unheard of a few years ago. This capacity surge is part of a broader government strategy to double defence exports to around USD 6 billion by 2029, up from roughly $2.8 billion in 2025.

From stockpiles to sales, all that private investment and policy push is working for India’s ammunition and explosives exports.

In the categories of bullets, cartridges, grenades, aerial bombs, propellants, and artillery shells, the industry reached an estimated ₹6,800–7,200 crore in FY2024–25, up from roughly ₹4,900–5,200 crore in FY2023–24.

This places India at 3% of the global ammunition market, valued at US$27–US$28 billion annually. Artillery shells (especially 155mm), small-arms ammunition (5.56mm, 7.62mm), high-explosive bombs, and propellants account for the bulk of exports. India is now a net exporter in these categories, with multi-year order books extending into FY2027–28.

Policy Architecture

This industrial momentum is underwritten by a clearer strategic framework. India’s National Defence Policy 2024 marks a maturation of earlier “Make in India” efforts. Ammunition production is explicitly included not as an add-on but as a core component of the defence production base, with targets for both domestic sufficiency and global exports.

Sanjay Soni, MD of Hughes Precision Manufacturing, a major global ammunition production firm, said, "We are seeing growth coming from the armed forces for Hughes Precision within India. Hughes Precision already exports around 85% of its production. There is a very good scope for exports of arms and ammunition from India. India needs greater policy changes to truly leverage its abilities in ammunition manufacturing. This is true, for the private sector needs to be involved in a much bigger manner."

Procurement reform now underway reinforces this logic. Long-term contracts reduce uncertainty for manufacturers, while export licensing processes have been rationalised. Simplified licensing and easier access to technology transfer — including strategic partnerships with Western firms — are part of the drive to develop ever more sophisticated rounds, including precision-guided artillery ammunition.

Foreign financing support for defence exports — including ammunition — is also being offered to buyer nations by public agencies, helping India penetrate markets historically dominated by Western or Russian suppliers. This financial backing aligns economic incentives with geopolitical outreach.

Limits And Risks

None of this guarantees success. Ammunition manufacturing is vulnerable to raw-material bottlenecks, particularly in specialised propellants. Quality failures carry reputational costs that can close markets overnight. R&D investment in cutting-edge munitions — such as smart, guided artillery shells — still trails global leaders.

Nevertheless, the trajectory is unmistakable. India has moved from scarcity to sufficiency, and from sufficiency towards surplus. Where once it imported a substantial share of its ammunition needs, today it produces most variants domestically and is selling them abroad at competitive prices.

In war, the first explosion grabs attention, but it is the sustained barrage that breaks resistance. India’s ammunition push is not a single detonation but a rolling thunder — factories firing in sequence, supply chains locking into rhythm, exports pushing into new geographies. If endurance is the true currency of modern conflict, India is finally minting it in brass, steel, and explosive charge.

(The writer is a senior journalist and analyst. Views expressed are personal.)