India’s manufacturing export story in 2026 is one of ambition meeting execution. Backed by the government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes across 14 sectors, the “China Plus One” diversification strategy being adopted by global supply chains, and a series of bilateral trade agreements being finalized with the UK, the EU, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, Indian manufacturing exporters are entering a period of structural tailwinds unlike anything the country has seen before.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India’s total merchandise exports touched approximately $437 billion in FY2023-24 and have been on an upward trajectory, with engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, and electronics collectively driving the bulk of the growth. Behind these numbers are large, organized manufacturing firms that have built world-class production capabilities, earned international quality certifications, and established deep distribution networks across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
This article profiles the Top 10 Export Manufacturing Firms in India in 2026 — companies that are not merely large by domestic standards, but are genuinely significant on the global manufacturing map.
1. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)
Sector: Petrochemicals, Polymers, Textiles | Headquarters: Mumbai | Export Markets: 100+ countries
Reliance Industries, led by Mukesh Ambani, is India’s largest company by revenue and one of its most powerful export engines. While RIL is better known domestically for its telecom (Jio) and retail arms, its manufacturing business — particularly petrochemicals, refined petroleum products, and polyester fibre — generates substantial export revenues that place it in a category of its own among Indian manufacturers.
RIL’s Jamnagar complex in Gujarat houses the world’s largest single-location oil refinery, processing capacity that enables it to produce and export polypropylene, polyethylene, PTA (purified terephthalic acid), and specialty chemicals to buyers across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Its textiles arm, which includes the Recron brand, exports polyester fibre globally. In 2026, RIL continues to be the anchor of India’s petrochemical export ecosystem, with its proposed new energy manufacturing investments also beginning to generate export-oriented industrial materials.
2. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited
Sector: Pharmaceuticals | Headquarters: Mumbai | Export Markets: 100+ countries, including US, Europe, and Emerging Markets
Sun Pharma is India’s largest pharmaceutical company by revenue and one of the top five generic pharmaceutical companies in the world. Founded by Dilip Shanghvi in 1983 in Vapi, Gujarat, with a modest capital of ₹10,000, Sun Pharma has grown into a global manufacturing powerhouse with 43+ manufacturing facilities across the US, Canada, Hungary, Israel, and India, and a product portfolio spanning specialty, generics, and OTC medicines.
The United States is Sun Pharma’s single largest export market, where it holds significant market share in multiple therapeutic categories. The company holds hundreds of ANDA (Abbreviated New Drug Application) approvals from the US FDA and has cleared inspections at its key Indian manufacturing sites. In specialty pharma, its dermatology and ophthalmology brands — including Ilumya, Absorica, and Cequa — generate meaningful revenue in developed markets. Sun Pharma represents the pinnacle of what India’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector has built: globally compliant, research-backed, and capable of competing at the innovation frontier.
3. Bajaj Auto Limited
Sector: Two-Wheelers and Three-Wheelers | Headquarters: Pune | Export Markets: 70+ countries
Bajaj Auto is India’s largest two-wheeler and three-wheeler exporter by volume, and one of the most recognized Indian manufacturing brands in the developing world. Under the leadership of Rajiv Bajaj, the company has pursued a focused export strategy that has made its motorcycles dominant in markets across Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. In FY2024, Bajaj Auto exported over 2 million two-wheelers — a testament to the global appetite for its value-engineered, fuel-efficient products.
The Pulsar series is Bajaj’s most recognized global export product, but equally important is its Boxer and Platina range, which serve as affordable, reliable workhorses in markets like Nigeria, Bangladesh, Colombia, and Egypt. Bajaj’s Chakan plant in Pune is one of India’s most sophisticated two-wheeler manufacturing facilities, and the company has consistently maintained export revenues that account for nearly 40–45% of its total net revenue. Its partnership with KTM AG of Austria also gives it a premium product pipeline for European markets.
4. Bharat Forge Limited
Sector: Auto Components, Forgings, Defense, Aerospace | Headquarters: Pune | Export Markets: Europe, USA, Japan, South Korea
Bharat Forge, part of the Kalyani Group led by Baba Kalyani, holds the distinction of being the world’s second-largest forging company and the largest forging company in Asia. The company manufactures crankshafts, front axle beams, steering knuckles, and other critical powertrain and chassis components for global automotive OEMs including Daimler, Volvo, MAN, Caterpillar, and Ford.
What makes Bharat Forge particularly significant as an export manufacturer is its ability to operate at the intersection of heavy engineering precision and mass production — a combination that very few manufacturers globally can replicate at its cost structure. In recent years, Bharat Forge has diversified aggressively into defense manufacturing and aerospace components, winning orders from the Indian armed forces and beginning to position itself for international defense exports — a high-value, high-complexity segment that India is pushing hard to capture. With forging revenue from exports contributing a substantial portion of its top line, Bharat Forge remains one of India’s most sophisticated export manufacturers.
5. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited
Sector: Pharmaceuticals | Headquarters: Hyderabad | Export Markets: USA, Europe, Russia, CIS, India
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, founded by K. Anji Reddy in 1984, was one of the first Indian pharmaceutical companies to file an ANDA with the US FDA, essentially pioneering India’s generic pharma export model that the entire industry now follows. Today, the company has manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad, Shreveport (USA), Cambridge (UK), and Mexico, and exports generic medicines, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and biosimilars across markets ranging from North America to Russia.
The company’s Global Generics business — which constitutes the majority of its revenue — is significantly driven by North American and European exports. Dr. Reddy’s has also built a strong biosimilars pipeline, which is increasingly important as biologic medicines come off patent globally. Its API manufacturing business, exported to pharmaceutical companies worldwide, forms a critical link in global medicine supply chains. In 2026, Dr. Reddy’s remains one of the most export-oriented and globally respected Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers.
6. Tata Motors Limited
Sector: Automobiles (Commercial and Passenger Vehicles) | Headquarters: Mumbai | Export Markets: UK, Europe, North America, and 125+ countries
Tata Motors occupies a unique position on this list because its export manufacturing story operates on two distinct levels. Domestically, Tata Motors manufactures and exports commercial vehicles — trucks, buses, and light commercial vehicles — to markets across Africa, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, where its robust, cost-effective vehicles have built strong brand equity. Internationally, through its wholly owned subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Tata Motors manufactures premium automobiles in the UK that are sold across 100+ countries — making it one of the very few Indian companies that manufactures and exports premium global brands.
JLR’s manufacturing plants in Solihull, Castle Bromwich, and Halewood in the UK produce Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, Jaguar, and Land Rover models that compete at the premium end of global automotive markets. The acquisition of JLR in 2008 for $2.3 billion was one of the most transformational deals in Indian corporate history, and in 2026, JLR contributes the majority of Tata Motors’ consolidated revenue — a remarkable export manufacturing success story.
7. UPL Limited
Sector: Agrochemicals and Crop Protection | Headquarters: Mumbai | Export Markets: 130+ countries
UPL Limited, formerly United Phosphorus Limited, is one of the world’s top five post-patent agrochemical companies, and India’s largest agrochemical exporter. Founded by Rajju Shroff and now led by Jai Shroff, UPL manufactures herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and plant nutrition products that are sold to farmers, distributors, and agricultural enterprises across Latin America, North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
The company’s 2019 acquisition of Arysta LifeScience for approximately $4.2 billion was a defining moment, making UPL a genuinely global agrochemical manufacturer with production facilities across India, France, the Netherlands, the US, and Brazil. In 2026, UPL’s Indian manufacturing sites — particularly those in Gujarat and Maharashtra — continue to produce significant volumes of crop protection chemicals for export, forming the backbone of its globally distributed supply chain. For any crop grown anywhere in the world, there is a reasonable chance that a UPL-manufactured product played a role in protecting it.
8. Welspun India Limited
Sector: Home Textiles (Towels, Bed Linen, Flooring) | Headquarters: Mumbai | Export Markets: USA, Europe, Australia, Japan
Welspun India is the world’s largest manufacturer of terry towels and one of the top three home textiles companies globally. Founded by the Goenka family and headquartered in Mumbai with its primary manufacturing complex in Vapi, Gujarat, Welspun supplies to the world’s most demanding retail and hospitality buyers — including Walmart, Target, Costco, JCPenney, Bed Bath & Beyond (US), ASDA (UK), and major international hotel chains.
Welspun’s export manufacturing credentials are backed by its Hygrocotton and Spunloft proprietary technologies, which allow it to differentiate on performance and not merely price. The company exports approximately 70–75% of its revenues, making it one of India’s most export-dependent large manufacturers. Its ability to produce at massive scale while complying with stringent US and European product safety, chemical compliance, and sustainability standards is what has made it a preferred global sourcing partner for nearly three decades. Welspun’s recent investments in technical textiles and advanced flooring solutions signal its ambition to keep expanding its global manufacturing footprint.
9. Dixon Technologies (India) Limited
Sector: Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) | Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh | Export Markets: Growing, driven by PLI incentives
Dixon Technologies is India’s largest and most strategically important Electronics Manufacturing Services company, and its rise tracks almost perfectly with India’s PLI scheme for electronics manufacturing. Founded by Sunil Vachani, Dixon manufactures consumer electronics (televisions, washing machines), mobile phones, LED lighting, security systems, and medical devices for global brands including Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola, OnePlus, and Panasonic — as a contract manufacturer.
While Dixon has historically been more India-market focused, its export orientation is accelerating rapidly in 2026 as global brands shift more of their supply chains out of China and into India. The company’s PLI-driven investments in mobile phone manufacturing — including partnerships with leading Chinese and Korean handset brands that are establishing India as a global export hub — are making Dixon a central player in India’s ambition to export $300+ billion worth of electronics annually by the end of the decade. Dixon’s story is perhaps the clearest indicator of where Indian export manufacturing is headed.
10. Arvind Limited
Sector: Textiles (Denim, Woven Fabrics, Garments) | Headquarters: Ahmedabad, Gujarat | Export Markets: USA, Europe, Japan
Arvind Limited, part of the Lalbhai Group and one of India’s oldest and most respected textile manufacturers, is the world’s third-largest denim manufacturer and a critical supplier to global fashion brands including Gap, H&M, Levi’s, PVH, and Tommy Hilfiger. With integrated manufacturing that spans cotton ginning, spinning, weaving, dyeing, finishing, and garmenting, Arvind controls quality across the entire textile value chain — a capability that few global textile manufacturers can match.
The company’s export manufacturing operations are anchored at its massive facility in Naroda, Ahmedabad, which is one of Asia’s most modern denim and shirting fabric production complexes. Arvind’s branded garments division has also been a vehicle for export growth, with international brands increasingly sourcing finished garments — not just fabric — from Arvind’s garmenting units. In an industry under constant pressure from Bangladesh and Vietnam on cost, Arvind’s response has been to invest in sustainable manufacturing — including waterless dyeing technology and organic cotton sourcing — to command premium prices from ESG-conscious global buyers.
Why These Firms Lead India’s Export Manufacturing Landscape
Looking across these ten companies, a few common themes emerge that explain their leadership positions. Each of them has made long-term investments in manufacturing quality infrastructure — acquiring global certifications, building world-class R&D capabilities, and achieving production scales that generate genuine cost advantages. Several of them — Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s, Tata Motors/JLR, Bharat Forge — have made strategic acquisitions abroad that transformed them from Indian exporters into genuine global manufacturers. And nearly all of them are now aligned with India’s PLI schemes, FTA negotiations, and the China Plus One diversification wave, which gives them structural tailwinds that will likely accelerate their export growth through the rest of this decade.
India’s goal of reaching $1 trillion in merchandise exports before 2030 is ambitious but not implausible — and the companies on this list will be the organizations carrying the most weight in making that goal a reality.
Note: Export revenue figures and company data are based on information available through mid-2025. Readers are encouraged to consult the latest annual reports and Ministry of Commerce data for the most current export performance metrics.
