Business
Global Conflicts Drive Arms Industry to $679 Billion Record Revenues – SUCH TV
Sales by the world’s top 100 arms makers reached a record $679 billion last year, as conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza fueled demand, according to researchers. Production challenges, however, continued to hamper timely deliveries.
The figure represents a 5.9 percent increase from the previous year, and over the 2015–2024 period, revenues for the top 100 arms makers have grown by 26 percent, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
“Last year, global arms revenues reached the highest level ever recorded by SIPRI, as producers capitalized on strong demand,” said Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
Regional Trends
According to SIPRI researcher Jade Guiberteau Ricard, the growth is mostly driven by Europe, though all regions saw increases except Asia and Oceania.
The surge in Europe is linked to the war in Ukraine and heightened security concerns regarding Russia.
Countries supporting Ukraine and replenishing their stockpiles have also contributed to rising demand.
Ricard added that many European nations are now seeking to modernize and expand their militaries, creating a new source of demand.
US and European Arms Makers
The United States hosts 39 of the world’s top 100 arms makers, including the top three: Lockheed Martin, RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies), and Northrop Grumman. US companies saw combined revenues rise 3.8 percent to $334 billion, nearly half of the global total.
European arms makers (26 companies in the top 100) recorded aggregate revenues of $151 billion, a 13 percent increase.
The Czech company Czechoslovak Group recorded the sharpest rise, with revenues jumping 193 percent to $3.6 billion, benefiting from the Czech Ammunition Initiative, which supplies artillery shells to Ukraine.
However, European producers face challenges in meeting increased demand, as sourcing raw materials has become more difficult.
Companies like Airbus and France’s Safran previously sourced half of their titanium from Russia before 2022 and have had to identify new suppliers.
Additionally, Chinese export restrictions on critical minerals have forced firms such as France’s Thales and Germany’s Rheinmetall to restructure supply chains, raising costs.
Russian Arms Industry
Two Russian arms makers, Rostec and United Shipbuilding Corporation, are among the top 100, with combined revenues rising 23 percent to $31.2 billion, despite component shortages caused by international sanctions.
Domestic demand largely offset the decline in exports. However, Russia’s arms industry faces a shortage of skilled labor, limiting its ability to sustain production rates necessary for ongoing military operations.
Israeli weapons still popular
The Asia and Oceania region was the only region to see the overall revenues of the 23 companies based there go down — their combined revenues dropped 1.2 percent to $130 billion.
But the authors stressed that the picture across Asia was varied and the overall drop was the result of by a larger drop among Chinese arms makers.
“A host of corruption allegations in Chinese arms procurement led to major arms contracts being postponed or cancelled in 2024,” Nan Tian, Director of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said in a statement.
Tian added that the drop deepened “uncertainty” around China’s efforts to modernise its military.
In contrast, Japanese and South Korean weapons makers saw their revenues increase, also driven by European demand.
Meanwhile, nine of the top 100 arms companies were based in the Middle East, with combined revenues of $31 billion.
The three Israeli arms companies in the ranking accounted for more than half of that, as their combined revenues grew by 16 percent to $16.2 billion.
SIPRI researcher Zubaida Karim noted in a statement that “the growing backlash over Israel’s actions in Gaza seems to have had little impact on interest in Israeli weapons”.
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday staged a strong comeback, breaking the long bearish momentum as snowballing forex reserves have lifted investor sentiment.
During intraday trading, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 index gained a whopping 3,146.23 points to climb to 184,602.56 points, marking a positive change of 1.70%.
Out of 562 active companies, share prices of 375 advanced and of 67 declined while rates of 120 companies remained unchanged.
Economic analysts said the uptick offered some breathing space for the economy, even as the country continued to keep a close watch on external inflows and outflows.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves inched up by $16 million over the past week, according to figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan.
The central bank said its official reserves rose from $16.0557 billion to $16.0718 billion, showing a modest gain during the week.
Overall, the country’s total reserves climbed to $21.2484 billion.
The State Bank also noted that commercial banks’ holdings went up by $5.6 million, reaching $5.1927 billion.
The central bank projects the FY26 current account deficit at 0–1% of GDP and sees reserves at $17.8 billion by June 2026 with planned official inflows.
A day earlier, the stock exchange dropped by over 1,100 points due to massive selling pressure.
The PSX had extended losses after recording an increase for a brief period as investors seemed cautious amid rising geopolitical tensions involving Iran.
During intraday trading, the KSE-100 index touched 183,717.53 due to strong buying in the early sessions before it turned bearish by losing 69.29 points to close at 182,500.52 points.
International officials have warned that US military intervention in Iran now appears likely and could take place within the next 24 hours amid sharply escalating tensions in the Middle East.
American, European and Israeli sources said preparations for possible action were under way as Washington began evacuating personnel from its major air base in Qatar.
NEW DELHI: People with job cards assigned under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme will be able to get work without disruption when transition takes place to new rural employment framework under Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act.Even though exact timeframe is not known yet, rural development ministry officials said the VB-G RAM G scheme will come into force in the coming financial year after the Centre frames and notifies the rules. After govt notifies the Act’s commencement date, states will get six months to make their schemes to enable implementation of the law.To ensure there is no disruption and job guarantee is upheld during transition from MGNREGA, it has been proposed to enable workers to use the same job cards issued under MGNREGA with Aadhaar-based eKYC.The officials said that as of now, around 75% of job cards have been verified with eKYC under the ongoing scheme. Moreover, ongoing projects under MGNREGA, if incomplete when the transition happens to the new scheme, would stay on course.Meanwhile, work is on to frame rules, lay out regulations on normative allocations, fund flow plan, IT framework, a national-level steering panel and social audits.Under the new law, focus will be on transparency to weed out leakages and duplicacy of work,the social audit system will be strengthened, and technology leveraged to create systems to establish work progress, timely wage payment and accountability through ‘e-measurement’ books, sources said. Demand for work will have to be entered on a digital platform. Officials made it clear the new law in no way interferes with demand-driven character of the scheme.
Business
Gurugram Attracts Rs 86,588 Crore In Real Estate Investments In 2025 As RERA Clears 131 Projects
Last Updated:
Alongside rising investments, Gurugram RERA strengthened regulatory oversight to safeguard homebuyer and investor interests
Gurgaon Real Estate (Representative Image)
Gurugram emerged as one of India’s top real estate investment destinations in 2025, with projects worth Rs 86,588 crore receiving regulatory approvals during the year, according to data from the Gurugram Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Gurugram RERA).
Market observers said the numbers reflect strong investor confidence in the NCR’s largest commercial and residential hub.
Gurugram RERA registered 131 projects in calendar year 2025, representing development potential of 35,455 units across housing and commercial segments.
A striking feature of the data was the dominance of large-ticket projects. Just 28 major developments accounted for investments worth Rs 59,360 crore, highlighting the growing influence of institutional capital and large developers in shaping Gurugram’s property market.
Residential assets continued to attract the bulk of investment interest. Of the total units approved, 31,455 were residential, underscoring sustained end-user demand and long-term confidence in the city’s housing fundamentals.
According to Authority data, the residential mix included 17,405 group housing units, 5,720 mixed land use units, 4,040 residential floor units, 2,122 affordable group housing units, 1,954 units under the Deen Dayal housing scheme, and 214 residential plotted colony units.
Market observers said this diversified supply pipeline indicates capital deployment across both premium and mass segments, helping reduce concentration risk and deepen market resilience.
On the commercial side, Gurugram RERA approved about 4,000 commercial units, of which 168 were dedicated to IT parks, reinforcing Gurugram’s position as a preferred hub for technology firms and Global Capability Centres.
Analysts noted that the combination of office-led employment growth and residential expansion continues to make Gurugram attractive for long-term capital deployment.
Industry experts said the scale of investments approved in 2025 highlights Gurugram’s ability to attract capital despite global uncertainty, supported by infrastructure growth, a strong corporate base and an improving regulatory environment.
“With a large pipeline of approved projects and sustained interest from developers and institutional investors, Gurugram is expected to remain a key real estate investment destination in the coming years,” a Gurugram-based real estate expert said.
Tighter regulatory checks
Alongside rising investments, Gurugram RERA strengthened regulatory oversight to enhance transparency and safeguard homebuyer and investor interests.
“These steps included stricter scrutiny of developer submissions, mandatory site inspections by domain experts, and public consultation through mandatory notices before project registration,” an Authority official said.
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January 16, 2026, 07:44 IST
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