Telangana wants India’s defence and aerospace industry to build factories and expand inside the state. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy made that pitch on Saturday at the curtain-raiser for Raksha Expo 2026, held at the Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad.

The Minister told the gathering that the state is ready to play a bigger role in the country’s push for homegrown defence capability. He said Telangana was well-positioned to support India’s effort to strengthen indigenous defence manufacturing and build supply chains that can compete globally. His invitation was direct. Domestic and foreign companies were asked to invest, manufacture and grow in Telangana.

Telangana was well-positioned to contribute to India’s ambition of strengthening indigenous defence capabilities, expanding domestic manufacturing and building globally competitive industrial supply chains.

The expo itself is scheduled for December 7 to 9 at Bharat Future City. It forms part of the Invest Telangana Global Summit, which gives the state a platform to put its industrial pitch in front of buyers, builders and policymakers at the same time.

The curtain-raiser drew more than 90 domestic and international companies from the defence, aerospace, space and internal security sectors. The room also held senior military officers, DRDO representatives, industry leaders and foreign consular representatives. That mix matters. Military end users, the country’s defence research body, private manufacturers and foreign diplomats were all in one place, hearing the same message from the state government.

The export numbers do the heavy lifting. Reddy cited government figures showing aerospace and defence exports from Telangana reached Rs 15,900 crore in 2023-24. He said the sector recorded a substantial increase after that. The more recent figure he pointed to was Rs 32,850 crore. That is a gain of Rs 16,950 crore, and the latest number is more than double the 2023-24 figure. The Minister linked those numbers to the sector’s expanding manufacturing and export capabilities, and he used them as the main evidence that Telangana can deliver on its pitch.

Why this matters for Telangana. The state is trying to position itself as a major hub for defence, aerospace and space technologies. Reddy expressed confidence that Raksha Expo 2026 would strengthen partnerships and attract fresh investments. For a state government, that is the real prize. Every new plant, supplier and research tie-up that lands in Telangana adds to the manufacturing base and to the export figures the Minister is already citing. The expo is designed to turn a strong export record into a bigger industrial footprint.

Why this matters nationally. The pitch sits squarely inside India’s ambition to strengthen its indigenous defence capabilities and expand domestic manufacturing. The presence of DRDO representatives and senior military officers at the curtain-raiser signals that the conversation is not only about business. It is also about building capacity that the country can rely on. Foreign consular representatives in the room point to another layer. Global companies are being asked to look at India, and specifically at Telangana, as a place to manufacture and not just to sell.

What to watch next. The curtain-raiser set the stage, but the real test comes in December. The key questions are simple. Will the companies that attended commit to fresh investments at Bharat Future City? Will the export growth Reddy described continue in the figures that follow? And will Telangana’s pitch turn into factories, supply chains and jobs? The answers will show whether the state’s defence ambitions are moving from speeches to production lines.

For now, the message from Hyderabad is clear. Telangana is asking the defence and aerospace industry to bet on it. The state has put its export record on the table, opened its doors to the sector’s biggest names and set a date. December 7 to 9 is when the industry will answer.