Government Expands R&D Push in Defence Manufacturing, Unveils New Start-Up and Deep-Tech Initiatives.
New Delhi:
The government has significantly intensified its efforts to strengthen research and development in the defence manufacturing sector through a series of initiatives aimed at boosting innovation, supporting domestic industries and enhancing self-reliance. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Defense State Minister Sanjay Seth outlined multiple steps adopted to expand India’s defence R&D ecosystem.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has accelerated technology development through its Development-cum-Production Partner (DcPP) model, enabling both public and private industries to become production partners. DRDO has created a pool of nearly 2,000 industries capable of manufacturing defence systems and sub-systems, offering technology transfers at zero fee for production partners. It has also opened its patents for free use by Indian industries and provides consultancy support from DRDO scientists.
To strengthen indigenous innovation, the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme has supported the successful development of 26 technologies, with two project systems launched as part of PSLV missions. An additional corpus of Rs. 500 crore has been sanctioned with a special focus on deep-tech. Complementing this, a new start-up policy is being drafted to streamline engagement with emerging innovators.
Innovation initiatives such as the “Dare to Dream” contests and the iDEX programme have created platforms for start-ups, MSMEs and individual innovators to contribute cutting-edge solutions for defence and aerospace. DRDO has also opened world-class test facilities across 24 laboratories to industry through the Defence Testing Portal.
Efforts to nurture collaboration between research institutions and industry include extramural research programmes and the establishment of 15 DRDO-Industry-Academia Centres of Excellence, working across 82 research verticals. DRDO is also supporting the Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridors as knowledge partner under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ vision.
The government has opened 25% of the defence R&D budget to industry, start-ups and academia, while a total of 70 projects under the “Make” categories of DAP-2020 have received Approval-in-Principle in the last three years.
Over the past three years, DRDO has sanctioned 148 new R&D projects. Budget allocations for defence R&D have also risen steadily, with BE for 2025–26 set at Rs. 26,816.82 crore, reflecting the government’s growing emphasis on developing indigenous defence technologies.
The minister reaffirmed that initiatives such as TDF, ToT, iDEX, DcPP and Dare to Dream continue to strengthen public–private partnerships and fuel innovation across the defence sector.
