'Make in India' Unlocked India's Defence Potential: Bharat Forge Chairman
- Bharat Forge's early defence efforts were dismissed despite offering indigenous artillery at half the cost of imports.
- The 2014 'Make in India' initiative and policy reforms under Manohar Parrikar gave private players like Bharat Forge a real breakthrough.
- Chairman Baba Kalyani credits private conviction and technological strength for transforming Bharat Forge into a defence manufacturing leader.
A decade ago, few in India’s defence establishment gave Bharat Forge’s artillery gun a second glance. Some even scoffed. Today, that same homegrown weapon stands tall as a symbol of India’s defence self-reliance thanks to a dogged push by the company and a tectonic policy shift under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India campaign.
In 2012, when Bharat Forge unveiled its artillery gun at a defence exhibition in Delhi, the response was underwhelming at best. “A lot of army guys walked by, some laughed at it,” recalled Chairman Baba Kalyani during an episode of the New India Junction podcast. “Not a single guy stopped to even see what the hell it was”.
The lack of interest wasn’t due to flaws in the product, but a prevailing disbelief that an Indian private company could manufacture something as complex as an artillery system. “Everybody believed in global suppliers”, said Joint Managing Director Amit Kalyani, highlighting the military’s long-standing preference for imports and public sector units.
Yet, Bharat Forge’s journey into defence was not born of ambition alone. It was shaped by adversity, missed opportunities, and a critical need for reinvention after the 2008 global financial crash. “This idea of defence came into my mind somewhere around 2011”, said Baba Kalyani. Drawing upon his military school background and technical expertise in metallurgy and forging, he realised the company was already well-positioned to build complex artillery systems.
“Look at artillery it’s full of forging. It’s metallurgy”, he said. “So I thought, why don’t we use our metallurgical and forging knowledge to make guns?”
However, breaking into defence manufacturing wasn’t easy. Back then, the sector was dominated by public enterprises, with limited room for private participation. Kalyani recalled how in the 1980s, India had imported 400 artillery guns from Swedish company Bofors, complete with a technology transfer package. “Sweden literally gave the total artillery technology package on a platter”, he said. “But the private sector was locked out”.
In 2011, Kalyani presented his vision to then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and was redirected to Defence Minister A.K. Antony. The outcome was discouraging. “He listened to me for 15–20 minutes and said thank you very much. I walked out. I got no response”, Kalyani recalled.
Adding to the frustration, Amit Kalyani shared that his father carried a file dating back to 1976, documenting Bharat Forge’s efforts to enter the defence sector only to see India continue importing the same kind of equipment four decades later.
Even in 2012, when Bharat Forge displayed its indigenous gun, skepticism prevailed. “We showcased this gun in 2012, and the kind of skepticism that came out, it was as if we didn’t exist”, said Kalyani. Notably, the company was offering the gun at half the price of comparable imports. “Price was not the problem”, he noted.
The turning point came in 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led government launched the Make in India initiative. Baba Kalyani participated in a defence conclave at Vigyan Bhavan, where he worked with officials to draft new policy frameworks. “That’s where the real revolution started”, he said.
The real game-changer came under former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who oversaw the revision of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) in 2016. “He understood both the policy and implementation challenges”, Kalyani said. “He formed committees to fix the entire system”. Kalyani credits Parrikar for opening the gates to private participation and transforming policy into practice. “If Parrikar were alive today, he would have taken India’s defence industry even further.”
Kalyani also drew a contrast with countries like China and South Korea, which surged ahead in the 1990s due to their embrace of private industry. “We focused everything in the public sector. The private sector wasn’t allowed into defence till 2014”, he said.
Innovation, he argued, was stifled by bureaucratic red tape. “In the public sector, you spend Rs 100 and someone from finance asks why. You spend more time justifying paperwork than doing creative work”.
Today, Bharat Forge’s foray into defence is not a speculative bet it’s a robust, profitable vertical. “We make guns at half the price of imports”, said Kalyani. And it’s not just about cost. These weapons are developed entirely in India, using indigenous materials, technology, and talent. The once-dismissed artillery prototype is now a flagship of India’s strategic autonomy.
Baba Kalyani’s conviction, once met with disbelief, has finally found its place in the country’s defence narrative. “We had the tech, we had the price advantage but no one believed”, he said.
