What Is Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)? India’s Defence Electronics Giant

Founded in 1954, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is a public-sector undertaking under India’s Ministry of Defence, which holds roughly half of its shares. It is one of India’s Navratna companies, a status that grants wide financial and operational autonomy.

BEL manufactures the electronic backbone of India’s air-defence network: radars, command-and-control systems, electronic-warfare (EW) suites, naval sonars, electro-optic sights and communications. It acts as the system integrator for programmes such as the Akash air-defence system, the Israel-partnered MR-SAM, and the EW retrofit of Su-30MKI fighters.

BEL’s portfolio spans six broad areas:

BEL’s primary customer is the Indian armed forces. Even so, export revenue reached about $141.9 million in FY2025-26, up more than 33% year on year, with an export order book near $495 million covering radar, communications and electro-optic systems sold to 50-plus nations.

BEL’s closest Turkish counterpart is ASELSAN, one of the world’s top-50 defence firms. ASELSAN matches BEL across most segments and leads in several, illustrating how Türkiye’s defence-electronics base competes at the same tier as India’s.

India. About half its shares are held by the government through the Ministry of Defence, and it is a Navratna public-sector undertaking.

Radar, air-defence electronics, EW systems, naval sonars, electro-optic sights and C4I systems. It is the system integrator for Akash and MR-SAM.

ASELSAN — a top-50 global defence firm that competes with BEL in radar, EW and electro-optics.

Consolidated revenue was about ₹23,769 crore (~$2.8B) in FY2024-25, with a provisional ~₹26,750 crore for FY2025-26.