New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at the DRDO–Industry Synergy Meet, VIMARSH 2026, on September 15 that stronger partnership between DRDO and Indian industry can make India a global hub for defence manufacturing, as New Delhi seeks to convert indigenous research into scalable production and exports.
Singh stressed that defence R&D cannot be driven by the government and DRDO alone, calling for deeper collaboration between DRDO, private industry, start-ups, academia and young innovators. He described this partnership as central to India's effort to build a technologically self-reliant defence ecosystem.
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The Defence Minister highlighted initiatives including the Positive Indigenisation Lists, Make in India, iDEX and ADITI, along with the allocation of 25% of the defence R&D budget to the private sector, as mechanisms intended to widen industry participation and reduce dependence on imported defence technologies.
The emphasis is significant because India's defence-industrial challenge is increasingly shifting from developing individual systems to scaling technologies into reliable, mass-manufactured and exportable products. DRDO's collaboration with industry can help bridge the gap between laboratory development, user trials, productionisation and eventual induction.
Under this model, the roles are increasingly complementary: DRDO contributes research, technology and technical expertise; established companies provide manufacturing and systems-integration capacity; start-ups bring agility and new technologies; and academia contributes scientific talent and research.
India is already expanding this ecosystem through technology-transfer programmes and development partnerships. In August, the Defence Minister approved the transfer of DRDO-developed technologies for conventional missile systems to Indian defence industry, further pushing the technology-to-production pipeline.
The approach also has a strategic dimension. Indigenous control over critical defence technologies can reduce vulnerabilities created by foreign supply chains while allowing India to customise systems according to its operational requirements. A mature domestic industrial base can also support the armed forces during prolonged contingencies when access to overseas suppliers could become uncertain.
For the defence industry, the ultimate objective is therefore not simply import substitution. India wants domestic companies to develop capabilities that can compete in international markets, creating an ecosystem capable of supporting both military preparedness and defence exports.
Singh's remarks at VIMARSH 2026 reinforce this broader transition—from “Make in India” as a manufacturing objective to self-reliance as a technology-and-industrial strategy. If DRDO's research base can be effectively connected with private manufacturing, start-ups and academia, India could increasingly emerge not just as a major defence market, but as a developer, manufacturer and exporter of advanced military technologies.
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