New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled a series of policy initiatives aimed at strengthening collaboration between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), MSMEs and deep-tech start-ups and integrating smaller enterprises more deeply into India’s defence supply chain. The initiatives were announced at VIMARSH 2026, a DRDO-Industry Synergy Meet held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The new measures are designed to reduce technical and financial barriers for MSMEs and start-ups by providing direct funding, incubation support and dedicated access to DRDO testing facilities. A standardised and secure framework for sharing DRDO-developed software source codes with licensed industries was also launched. The framework is intended to accelerate software-defined defence capabilities and help industries address technology obsolescence more efficiently.
During the event, nine Licensing Agreements for Transfer of Technology (LAToTs) were handed over to 13 manufacturing partners, enabling them to undertake commercial production of advanced defence systems.
Strategic MoUs were also exchanged with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and Laghu Udyog Bharati (LUB) to widen DRDO’s industry outreach and encourage greater participation from enterprises at the grassroots level. DRDO also signed an agreement with the Quality Council of India for System for Advanced Manufacturing Assessment and Rating (SAMAR) 2.0, aimed at benchmarking the manufacturing maturity of domestic defence companies.
Addressing the gathering, Rajnath Singh said DRDO-industry cooperation should move beyond production and cover the entire defence technology value chain, including research, design, testing, certification and manufacturing. He said closer integration of these capabilities was essential to transforming India into a global defence manufacturing hub.
“DRDO possesses knowledge and technology, the industry has scale and manufacturing capability, start-ups bring innovation and agility, and the youth hold the dream of a New India. When these four forces converge and move forward together, no goal is impossible,” Singh said.
The Defence Minister said the vision of Viksit Bharat extends beyond economic growth and includes technological self-reliance, social inclusion, environmental sustainability and strategic security. By 2047, he said, India should achieve self-reliance in critical technologies, substantially increase indigenous content, expand defence exports and establish a stronger presence in global supply chains.
Singh highlighted several reforms undertaken in recent years to reduce India’s dependence on defence imports, including Positive Indigenisation Lists, the Make in India initiative, iDEX and ADITI. He also pointed to the allocation of 25% of the defence research and development budget to the private sector and grants being provided to start-ups through the Technology Development Fund.
He described MSMEs and start-ups as important drivers of defence innovation, noting that they are increasingly developing components, subsystems and advanced technologies for major defence platforms. He called for their integration into the defence supply chain alongside large companies.
The new policy initiatives focus on industry-led research and development, funding and mentorship for start-ups and MSMEs, stronger academia-industry partnerships and investment in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonics and directed-energy systems.
Singh said areas including drone technology, AI and cybersecurity offer significant opportunities for MSMEs and start-ups as India transitions from being a major defence importer to an increasingly important defence exporter. He urged MSMEs to maintain high standards of quality, timely delivery and innovation while building partnerships with larger companies and aligning themselves with global standards.
Emphasising the strategic importance of technological self-reliance, Singh said companies investing in emerging technologies today would be positioned to lead in the future, particularly as technological superiority increasingly determines strategic advantage in warfare.
Defence Secretary, Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D and DRDO Chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh said VIMARSH 2026, themed ‘Varta se Vikas’, had been designed to connect commercial innovation with national defence preparedness and systematically integrate private-sector capabilities into the defence ecosystem.
He said the objective was to move the defence sector beyond a transactional buyer-seller relationship towards a collaborative and co-created technology ecosystem. According to him, the expansion of technology transfers has enabled the creation of parallel production lines, benefiting MSMEs and helping address constraints associated with a limited manufacturing base.
More than 2,300 technology transfers have so far been handed over to over 1,100 industries, Rajesh Kumar Singh said. He added that DRDO had made technologies related to around 50 missiles available to industry to encourage wider private-sector participation.
A book titled ‘Defence Systems for Resilient Bharat – Advancing Aatmanirbharta in Defence’, documenting major defence systems developed by DRDO technology clusters between 2014 and 2026, was also released at the event. Guidelines for Human Resource Outsourcing Service Contracts in DRDO were unveiled as well, providing a framework covering service specifications, selection of service providers, contract administration, performance monitoring and statutory compliance.
Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary (Defence Finance) Vishvajit Sahay and Distinguished Scientist and Director General (Production Coordination & Services Interaction), DRDO, Chandrika Kaushik, were among those present.
During technical sessions, DRDO’s technological clusters presented roadmaps covering aeronautical systems, missiles, armaments, microelectronics and naval systems. DRDO headquarters also outlined measures to simplify procedural compliance, speed up access to facilities and reduce licensing timelines.
A high-level panel discussion involving senior representatives of DRDO, the Department of Defence Production and the armed forces focused on accelerating technology absorption, improving Development-cum-Production Partner models and ensuring faster induction of indigenous technologies into operational service.
The flagship meet brought together more than 250 defence industry leaders, representatives of industry chambers, senior civil and military officials and DRDO scientists. The Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade also participated.
VIMARSH 2026 sought to create a more transparent, agile and collaborative framework connecting DRDO’s research capabilities and emerging deep-tech start-ups with India’s established manufacturing ecosystem, with the broader objective of strengthening the country’s defence-industrial base and advancing Aatmanirbharta in defence.
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