HAL, BEL, Indian Ordnance Factories Ranked among SIPRI Top 100 Arms-Producing Companies 2020.

Why in news?

• As per the report of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) titled ‘Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies, 2020’, 3 Indian defence manufactures companies such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Ordnance Factories, and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) ranks among the Top 100 manufacturers globally
• The HAL, ranked 42nd, and BEL, ranked 66th, and Indian Ordnance Factories ranked 60th.
• The arms sales of HAL, BEL, and Indian Ordnance Factories increased by 1.5 percent, 4.0 percent, and 0.2 percent respectively in 2020 when compared to 2019.

Important points

• The combined arms sales of the world’s largest top 100 arms-producing and military services companies in 2020 was about $531 billion.
• The arms sales of the Top 100 were 17 percent higher in 2020 than in 2015.
• With 41 arms companies, the USA has the highest number of companies in the top 100 worldwide.
• Together, their arms sales amounted to $285 billion, an increase of 1.9 percent compared with 2019. The top five companies are from the US.
• With 13 percent share of total Top 100 arms sales, China stands at 2nd to the US in terms of manufacturing military equipment, arms and weapons.