Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today inaugurated NIBE Limited’s landmark defence manufacturing complex in Shirdi, Maharashtra, and flagged off the first Suryastra Universal Rocket Launcher System.
The facility is one of India’s largest private-sector defence investments, designed to produce artillery shells, rockets, drones, and advanced munitions, marking a major step in the country’s self-reliance drive.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, senior ministers, military officials, and industry leaders. Rajnath Singh described the development as a “golden chapter” in India’s journey towards self-reliance in defence manufacturing, stressing that future wars will be determined not by troop numbers but by technological superiority, precision weaponry, and automation.
He cited lessons from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, West Asia tensions, and India’s own Operation Sindoor to underline the importance of advanced systems.
Spread across 200 acres in Ahilyanagar district, the complex has an annual capacity to produce five lakh 155mm artillery shells, making it the largest private artillery shell facility in India.
Alongside this, the plant will manufacture missile systems, rocket launchers, kamikaze drones, explosives, and autonomous defence platforms.
The project carries an investment of over ₹3,000 crore, and is expected to generate thousands of jobs while strengthening the regional industrial ecosystem.
At the event, NIBE showcased the Suryastra Rocket Launcher System, capable of firing rockets with ranges of 150 km and 300 km. The system had recently been tested at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, Odisha, achieving high accuracy.
The Indian Army has already placed an emergency procurement order for launcher vehicles, a battery command post, and loader vehicles, signalling the system’s immediate operational relevance.
The Defence Minister also laid the foundation stone for a dedicated missile complex linked to the Suryastra system and unveiled indigenous TNT and RDX plant technologies, along with a renewable bio-energy compressed biogas facility.
These initiatives are intended to create a holistic ecosystem combining defence production with clean energy infrastructure. An MoU was signed between NIBE Group and US-based Black Sky for collaboration in satellite assembly, further expanding the scope of the complex into space-linked defence technologies.
Rajnath Singh emphasised that India, once among the world’s largest arms importers, is steadily transforming into a defence exporter. He expressed confidence that with projects like Shirdi, India could become the world’s largest exporter of defence products within the next 25–30 years.
He praised NIBE Group’s leadership, noting that the facility would not only meet the operational requirements of the armed forces but also empower MSMEs and local industries, thereby boosting the economy.
The inauguration also highlighted the government’s policy reforms that opened defence production to private participation, recognising the private sector’s potential to transform India into a global manufacturing hub.
Singh reiterated that India’s defence and aerospace ecosystem is being built on indigenous technologies, ensuring strategic autonomy and resilience against external dependencies.
Agencies
