🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Solar is extending its defence work into robotics and drones

• The planned push into “deep tech” builds on a defence business that makes up almost 90% of the company’s Rs 17,100 crore order book 1.
• The defence ramp-up is already underway, with revenue up 162% in FY25 to Rs 1,355 crore 2.
• Solar Industries has supplied advanced explosives to the defence sector, including HMX (High Melting Explosive) and RDX (Research Department Explosive), and backed programmes such as Pinaka and BrahMos 1.
• The company has opened a loitering munition (a “kamikaze” drone designed to hover and strike targets) test range plus a 1,230-metre UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) runway 2.

India’s private defence industry is pushing into global markets

• Solar’s expansion follows India’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant) policy, backed by its Rs 12,700 crore investment MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Maharashtra 2.
• Exports already matter, with about Rs 8,000 crore in international orders within a roughly Rs 15,500 crore defence order book 1.
• A private Indian firm winning multi-year export defence orders worth Rs 1,419 crore suggests more market share is shifting beyond the traditional Western defence bloc 3.
• Defence manufacturing is increasingly overlapping with the tech sector, which raises demand for AI, robotics, and automation skills for next-generation systems.