Baba Kalyani

Chairman, Bharat Forge

Search every verified Baba Kalyani interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Baba Kalyani, chairman and managing director of Bharat Forge, has spoken at multiple events in recent months about India's defense manufacturing sector and the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. At the R Defence Forces First Conclave in July 2026, Kalyani discussed the shift from "Make in India" to "Design in India and Export to the World," and said that Indian industry has evolved from a technology absorption phase to a technology creation phase. He noted that 76% of defense production is contributed by public sector undertakings and 24% by the private sector, and said a roughly 50/50 split between the two would be a balanced approach. Kalyani also said that the government under Modi does not distinguish between the private and public sector, and that licensing procedures and ease of doing business have improved. In interviews marking 12 years of the Modi government, Kalyani praised the prime minister's leadership, stating that he has "re-industrialised India like no one else" and that the country's industrial economy was "almost dead" before. Kalyani said that the defense sector has seen significant changes, including the opening of defense manufacturing to the private sector and a rise in defense exports from a few hundred crores in 2014 to around 26,000 crores. He also said that Bharat Forge is working on entering the semiconductor equipment supply chain, and that the company is setting up an energetics plant in Andhra Pradesh to produce explosives and propellants. Kalyani emphasized the need for greater investment in research and development, creating scale in manufacturing, and building trust between the government and the private sector, noting that his company has been investing in defense R&D for 15 years but has not yet supplied any item to the Indian armed forces, with its defense business currently focused on exports.