True self reliance in Defence possible only when we have technology of our own, says Defence Secretary

Opening up of Defence Research & Development is one of the recent initiatives announced by the Government of India to promote and support existing and potential private players. In a continued effort to reduce imports and promote self-reliance in equipment for the Armed Forces, 25 percent of allocation for Defence R&D has been kept for collaboration with the private sector.

“We realise that true self reliance or atma nirbharta can happen when we have technology of our own. Government has made its intent very clear by saying that 25 percent of Defence R&D budget allocation will be earmarked for R&D by private industry, academia and startups,” says, Defence Secretary, Dr Ajay Kumar.

“For the first time, we will be creating SPVs with DRDOs, with private industry in a model of industry-led design. The whole idea is to scale up the Defence R&D efforts to meet multifarious requirements of the armed forces,” he adds in his keynote address at Aerospace and Defence Summit 2022.


The policy decisions of this year’s budget are a follow up of the Government's initiative to bring startups to work closing in the Defence sector under Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX).

iDEX was launched by the Prime Minister in 2018 leading to several Defence India Start-up challenges. So far we have had five challenges starting from the first challenge in August 2018.

Union Budget 2022 announced the highest ever allocation for the Defence sector, a whopping increase of almost 10 percent to Rs 5.25 lakh crores. Among other announcements, this year’s budget also saw 68 percent of the capital procurement budget earmarked for domestic industry.

To explore growth opportunities in the Aerospace & Defence sector, Economictimes.com invited distinguished speakers and industry experts to share their insights on the scope and scale of India's A&D market.

Dr Ajay Kumar shared his vision for encouraging defence start-ups and private participation. He spoke on the role and impact of private participation especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises that form the backbone of an economy.