DRDO Opens Defence R&D Doors Wider for MSMEs and Start-ups

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday unveiled a package of policy measures designed to make it easier for micro, small and medium enterprises and deep-tech start-ups to take part in defence research, development and manufacturing. The initiatives were announced at VIMARSH 2026, a DRDO-Industry Synergy Meet.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Singh said cooperation between the Defence Research and Development Organisation and industry must stretch across the full technology value chain — from research, design, testing and certification through to manufacturing — rather than being confined to production alone.

The framework extends direct funding, incubation support and dedicated access to DRDO testing facilities to smaller firms and emerging ventures. It also introduces a standardised and secure route for sharing DRDO-developed software source codes with licensed industries, a step intended to speed up software-defined defence capabilities and counter technology obsolescence.

At the meet, nine Licensing Agreements for Transfer of Technology were handed to 13 manufacturing partners for commercial production of advanced defence systems. DRDO also exchanged strategic memoranda of understanding with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers and Laghu Udyog Bharati to broaden outreach to smaller enterprises, and signed a contract with the Quality Council of India for version 2.0 of the System for Advanced Manufacturing Assessment and Rating, which benchmarks the manufacturing maturity of domestic defence firms.

Mr. Singh linked the push to India's goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047, saying it would require self-reliance in critical technologies, higher indigenous content, a substantial expansion of defence exports and a stronger position in global supply chains. He pointed to existing measures — the Positive Indigenisation Lists, Make in India, iDEX, ADITI and the earmarking of 25% of the defence R&D budget for the private sector — as having built a wider ecosystem for defence innovation. Companies investing in new and emerging technologies today would become the leaders of tomorrow, he said, adding that future warfare would be defined by technological superiority.

Defence Secretary and DRDO chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh said the meet, themed 'Varta se Vikas', was meant to shift the defence ecosystem from a transactional buyer-seller relationship towards collaborative technology development. He said more than 2,300 technology transfers had been handed to over 1,100 industries so far, and that technologies linked to around 50 DRDO-developed missiles had been made available to industry.

More than 250 industry leaders, officials and DRDO scientists attended the event, which also took up technology absorption, Development-cum-Production Partner models and faster induction of indigenous technologies into the armed forces. Technical roadmaps were presented for aeronautical systems, missiles, armaments, microelectronics and naval systems.