Hindustan Aeronautics, Bharat Electronics Bags Place in SIPRI’s Top 100 List

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) have been ranked among the 100 largest arm manufacturing companies in the world. HAL ranked at 42nd as BEL bagged the 63rd place with a total evaluation of $5.1 Billion in 2021.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) recorded to have arm sales of $3300 million in 2021, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) on the other hand had arm sales of $1830 million. In 2020, the arms sales by these companies were slightly lesser at $3092 million and $1520 million consecutively.  

The percentage change in arm sales in HAL is minor with 6.7% whereas BEL hiked their sales with a romping 20%. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, established in 1940 and Bharat Electronics Ltd established in 1954 are the oldest in the business. Both rank for India's top two Defence Public Sector Undertakings under the Ministry of Defence. 

SIPRI’s research paper also added “Both companies have benefited from major orders placed by the Indian armed forces in recent years. Indian Ordnance Factories, which appeared in the 2020 edition of the Top 100, was restructured into seven smaller companies in October 2021 and thus dropped out of the ranking.”

According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), sales of arms reached $592 billion in 2021, which is a 1.9 percent increase compared to 2020 statistics regardless of the impact of Covid-19 shudder on industry halt. 

The United States accounts for 51% of the total share of arms sales in the SIPRI Top 100 for 2021, followed by China with 18%, United Kingdom at 6.8%, France with 4.9% and Russia at 3%.