'Every inch of Pakistan within range of BrahMos missiles': Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

He said that BrahMos is not merely a missile but it is also a symbol of India’s capabilities.

Lucknow/New Delhi: In yet another warning to the western neighbour, Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that the entire Pakistan was within the range of BrahMos missiles and what happened during Operation Sindoor was just a "trailer".

"Every inch of the neighboring country is within the range of the BrahMos cruise missile…Operation Sindoor was just a trailer (of a film), which had made Pakistan realise that if India could give birth to Pakistan, then when time comes, it could also...I don’t need to explain it," Rajnath said in Lucknow.

Rajnath and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged off the dispatch of the first batch of the missiles manufactured at the new BrahMos Aerospace Unit in Uttar Pradesh capital.

Following the successful use of the missile during the Indo-Pak hostilities in May, Indian top political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have spoken multiple times on how BrahMos penetrated Pakistan’s air defence to strike at its key military assets.

“The missile features a traditional warhead and an advanced guided system and possesses the capability to strike long distances at supersonic speeds. This combination of speed, accuracy, and power makes BrahMos one of the best systems in the world. It has become the backbone of our armed forces,” Rajnath added.

The Defence Minister said India signed contracts worth Rs 4,000 crore to export BrahMos to two countries in the last one month, without disclosing the identity of the nations that would receive the made-in-India weapons.

India has exported BrahMos to the Philippines in two batches in accordance with a $375 million contract the two countries signed in 2022. While several other countries have shown interest, it is not immediately known which are the two countries with which New Delhi signed the new BrahMos deal.

Referring to the Philippines deal, the minister said India was now playing the role "of a giver, not just a taker".

Rajnath said that the turnover of the BrahMos unit with a capacity of producing 100 missile systems annually would be around Rs 3,000 crore in the next financial year, of which the GST collection would be nearly Rs 500 crore.

Spread over 200 acres of area, the facility was set up at a cost of Rs 380 crore and is a key component of UP defence industrial corridor. It was inaugurated in May this year.

The Union minister said that Lucknow would be known as the hub of defense production centres in future.

Rajnath said that the turnover of the BrahMos unit would be around Rs 3,000 crore in the next financial year. The state government would also get Rs 300 crore as GST.

He said, "Achievements like BrahMos made us believe that the ‘Made in India’ is not merely a slogan but has become a ‘global brand’ and it is getting respect from across the world."

According to reports, the BrahMos team had signed contracts worth Rs 4,000 crore with two countries in the past one month.

The indigenously-developed BrahMos supersonic missiles had wreaked havoc in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor destroying several air bases inside Pakistan.