Overview
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told the NDTV Defence Summit that the ministry has approved about Rs 2,400 crore in procurement from startups and sanctioned projects worth about Rs 1,500 crore.
- Singh said DRDO has been recast as a national innovation platform and that traditional missile technologies will be transferred to Indian industry to speed commercialization and production.
- The defence startup base has grown from roughly a dozen in 2018 to more than 2,000 firms, with hundreds awarded challenge problems, prototype funding, and purchase approvals to build indigenous systems.
- Officials also reported technical strides including successful long‑range hypersonic flight trials and long‑duration scramjet tests, which the government says support future weapons and propulsion programs.
- Investment proposals totaling about Rs 70,000 crore have emerged in the Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, with roughly Rs 10,000 crore already deployed and DPSUs reporting rising R&D spending and exports to over 100 countries.