Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) releases a commemorative stamp during the inauguration of the Aero India 2023 at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India, on Feb 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

BENGALURU - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday set out ambitions to more than triple annual defense exports to $5 billion over the next two years, as arms firms flocked to a major air show for a slice of the nation's massive import budget.

The country is looking to sign defense deals worth 750 billion rupees ($9 billion) at the biennial five-day Aero India event, its biggest ever, as its airlines try to complete jetliner purchases to meet civilian demand and press global aircraft manufacturers to produce more locally, mainly through partnerships.

India has been one of the world's biggest importers of defense equipment for decades, but it has punched below its weight in the global arms export market.

Today, India is not just a market for defense companies, it is also a potential defense partner ... I call on India's private sector to invest more and more in the country's defense sector.

Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister

New Delhi's export ambitions are a sign of its growing clout as it uses the leverage of huge imports to attract investment in its domestic industry.

"Today, India is not just a market for defense companies, it is also a potential defense partner," Modi said in a speech at the show. "I call on India's private sector to invest more and more in the country's defense sector."

India exports defense products to 75 countries, he added.

Past Indian exports include Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Dhruv helicopters to the Philippines, Mauritius and Ecuador and Russia-India venture BrahMos Aerospace's supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines. HAL has also offered its Tejas light fighter jet for sale to Malaysia.

ALSO READ: India raises defense budget to $72.6b to modernize military

Indian Air Force's aerobatic team Suryakiran perform maneuvers on the first day of the Aero India 2023 at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India, on Feb 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

India has also exported other items such as offshore patrol vessels, coastal surveillance systems, avionics, chaff rocket launchers and spares for radars.

The air show aims to promote exports of indigenous air platforms such as Tejas, Dhruv, HTT-40 training aircraft, Dornier light utility helicopter and the light combat helicopter.

India also wants smaller domestic companies and start-ups to make parts for large defense products globally as well as to attract foreign investment for joint product development and production.

At the Aero India event, held at the Air Force Station of Yelahanka near Bengaluru, officials cheered aerobatic displays by aircraft including Tejas and Russian-made Sukhoi 30 fighter jets.

Indian Air Force Suryakiran acrobatic team perform maneuvers during rehearsals ahead of the Aero India 2023 at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India, on Feb 11, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

India also wants smaller domestic companies and start-ups to make parts for large defense products globally as well as to attract foreign investment for joint product development and production

Sharing borders with its nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, India's Soviet-era air force fleet is in desperate need of modernizing. Suppliers in the European Union and the United States have been lobbying for a bigger share of the market.

Russia supplied India with around $13 billion of arms in the past five years, Russian state news agencies reported late on Sunday, and suppliers in the European Union and the United States have been lobbying for a bigger share of the market.

Exhibitors at the show include Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Israel Aerospace Industry, BrahMos, SAAB, Rolls Royce, Larsen & Toubro, HAL and Bharat Electronics Ltd.

READ MORE: India, Japan plan more military drills to strengthen ties 

India's airlines are also expanding, with Tata Group's Air India expected to announce a potentially record deal to buy nearly 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing, worth more than $100 billion at list prices.

Although unlikely to be announced at the air show itself, the deal coincides with India's largest industry gathering where suppliers hope to win spin-off contracts from the country's defense and civil aviation expansion.