Telangana to host Raksha Expo 2026 to boost domestic defence manufacturing

Telangana will host the inaugural Raksha Expo from December 7 to 9 at Bharat Future City near Hyderabad, marking India's first state-organised exhibition spanning defence, aerospace, space and internal security.

The three-day event will take place alongside the Invest Telangana Global Summit 2026. Organisers have planned live technology demonstrations, drone shows, business-to-government roundtables and an air show scheduled for December 9, aiming to connect domestic startups and small manufacturers directly with global defence contractors and armed forces procurers.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has invited Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to open the exhibition. A curtain-raiser in Hyderabad on October 24 at Falaknuma Palace gathers over 80 industry chiefs from 70 organisations, including Airbus, Boeing, Safran, Rolls-Royce, GE Aerospace and Tata Lockheed Martin, ahead of a national roadshow in New Delhi on October 29.

What the expo showcases

The initiative is designed to anchor India's drive for strategic self-reliance by integrating domestic supply chains with international aerospace leaders. Recent worldwide conflicts have underlined the risks of relying on foreign equipment, accelerating India's shift toward indigenous production of drones, counter-drone hardware, secure communication networks and ammunition.

Hyderabad already accounts for roughly 30% of India's defence and aerospace industry. The city hosts more than a dozen Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratories and state-owned enterprises such as Bharat Dynamics Limited, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, alongside private facilities operated by Tata Advanced Systems, Adani Defence and Bharat Forge.

Local facilities serve as the sole global manufacturing source for C-130J Super Hercules empennages and have built 400 Apache attack helicopter fuselages, illustrating how regional manufacturing clusters feed directly into global supply lines.

Key figures

The national defence manufacturing sector reached record highs in 2025–26, driven by higher procurement budgets and export approvals. Telangana's own aerospace exports recorded substantial expansion over the preceding fiscal years.

Telangana's aerospace exports increased by roughly 93% in 2024–25, with state authorities estimating that the local sector is expanding at more than 30% annually.

What happens next

The state government is tying the event to its broader economic road map, which targets a $1 trillion gross state domestic product by 2034 under the "Telangana Rising 2047" plan. Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju noted that bringing space and homeland security into the same forum as aerospace and defence addresses cross-domain requirements that modern armed forces now demand.

Following the October meetings in Hyderabad and New Delhi, state officials will finalise manufacturing partnerships, joint venture proposals and pavilion allocations for Bharat Future City ahead of the December opening.