By N. C. Bipindra
In the wake of India’s Operation Sindoor against terror camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in May 2025, what stood out was the indigenous military systems that defended civilians and military infrastructures against Pakistani missiles, drones, and artillery fire.
The effectiveness of Indian military equipment mainly depends on the key input of raw materials and composites. Without these, no Indian system could have been a success.
Defence Capital editor N. C. Bipindra spoke to Kanpur-based Indian aerospace and defence company Lohia Aerospace Systems Limited’s founder and chief executive officer, Anurag Lohia, on the importance of composites and raw materials in developing indigenous military equipment and weapons, and for India to become an aerospace and defence manufacturing superpower.
In this Defence Capital Conversation, Anurag Lohia provides a glimpse of what Lohia Aerospace Systems does for the Indian aerospace and defence industries, including loitering munitions and drone manufacturing. He also highlighted Lohia Aerospace Systems’ vision and strategy to make India self-sufficient in raw materials and composites.
Lohia agreed with the assessments of KPMG (2020) that India had imported nearly US$2 billion worth of critical materials annually, and India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had imported US$500 million worth of raw materials in 2018-19.
Lohia also felt that Lucintel’s 2024 assessment of a six percent CAGR in composites use by Indian aerospace and defence manufacturers till 2030 was on the dot, too.
Acknowledging that products manufactured by Lohia Aerospace Systems were part of the Operation Sindoor equipment that India used, Lohia specifically mentioned that loitering munitions were the first line of defence, and his company’s products went into the weapon systems that India used.
Composites are lightweight structures made of carbon, glass, or aramid as per the requirements, and these have replaced steel, titanium, and aluminium as wings and aerostructures for airplanes, fighter jets, and attack and surveillance drones.
The composites are seven to 10 times lighter than steel and are two to three times lighter than aluminium and titanium, but far stronger. So the composites are the material of choice for the aerospace and defence industry.
Lohia said his company can make the loitering munitions and drones far cheaper because these are made of carbon and glass composites. These military systems can be used across far longer distances than ammunition, which is made of conventional materials.
“We (India) did not have the potential for manufacturing composites for a very, very long time, and the government of India and some private players started this. I realised the potential and hence acquired an Israeli company (Light and Strong Limited) for manufacturing them in India,” he said.
HAL, he said, continues to be the prime manufacturer of fighter jets and drones in India, and the primary consumer of composites. “Today, India is a net exporter of composites and raw materials, instead of an importer. Our composites are used worldwide now.”
India-made composites are being used by all defence-producing countries, including the US, Israel, the UK, France, and to some extent, Germany.
Apart from Lohia Aerospace Systems, among the largest in the composites manufacturers in India, major players in the Indian aerospace and defence industry, such as HAL, Tata, Larsen & Toubro, and Adani, have entered this very lucrative composites sub-sector over the years.
Yet, the challenges for Indian composites makers lie in the lack of a raw materials supply chain in India, and a lot still have to be imported, apart from the government policies that do not allow easy export of aerospace and defence systems even to friendly countries.
Lohia Aerospace Systems is creating the necessary raw materials supply chain, in a small way. Yet, on the policy front, Indian industries must obtain licences from different government departments, including the Ministry of Defence and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.
The composites industry’s wish list is to remove the hurdles created unknowingly, and not to provide any infrastructure or to buy from the Indian composites makers.
The other problem is the “inverted” Goods and Services Tax (GST) that is being levied on the raw materials and composites industry. The raw materials have an 18 percent GST while the aerospace parts have a five percent GST. This situation needs to be corrected, as India’s competitiveness is lost in the global market.
India is now among the largest producers of loitering munitions and drones in the world today, and this needs to be leveraged, Lohia noted, adding that the opportunities for India are huge.
For the rest of the interview, watch this Defence Capital Conversation below:
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