Rajnath Singh Unveils MSME-Focused Defence Policy Initiatives at VIMARSH 2026

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled a set of policy initiatives aimed at bringing micro, small and medium enterprises and deep-tech start-ups deeper into the defence supply chain at VIMARSH, a DRDO-Industry Synergy Meet held in New Delhi on September 15, 2026.

The measures include a framework designed to lower the technical and financial barriers that smaller firms face when entering defence production, with provisions for direct funding, incubation support and dedicated access to DRDO testing facilities. A separate standardised and secure framework was launched for sharing DRDO-developed software source codes with licensee industries, intended to speed up software-defined defence capabilities and help manage obsolescence.

Nine Licensing Agreements for Transfer of Technology were handed over to 13 manufacturing partners in the presence of the Defence Minister, enabling commercial production of advanced systems.

To broaden its industry outreach, DRDO exchanged memoranda of understanding with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers and Laghu Udyog Bharati. It also signed a contract with the Quality Council of India for version 2.0 of SAMAR, a system for advance manufacturing assessment and rating that benchmarks the manufacturing maturity of domestic defence enterprises.

Addressing the gathering, Singh said DRDO-industry collaboration should extend beyond production to cover the entire value chain, including research, design, testing, certification and manufacturing, so that India can emerge as a global defence manufacturing hub. He described DRDO as the holder of knowledge and technology, industry as the provider of scale and manufacturing capability, start-ups as sources of innovation and agility, and the youth as carriers of the dream of a new India.

The Minister said the goal of Viksit Bharat extends beyond economic strength to technological self-reliance, social inclusion, environmental sustainability and strategic security. By 2047, he said, the country must achieve self-reliance in critical technologies, a substantial rise in indigenous content, multi-fold growth in defence exports and a strong presence in global supply chains.

Singh cited recent defence reforms, including the positive indigenisation lists, the Make in India initiative, iDEX, ADITI and the decision to allocate 25 per cent of the defence research and development budget to the private sector. He noted that grants are being routed to start-ups through the Technology Development Fund and that several technologies have reached production, while iDEX has built an ecosystem in which start-ups develop solutions for actual operational needs.

Calling start-ups and MSMEs the new flag-bearers of innovation, the Minister said they play a central role in Aatmanirbhar Bharat by developing components and sub-systems for major defence platforms. He stressed the need to integrate them alongside large industries in the defence supply chain and said the new initiatives would open fresh opportunities. He added that the policy push focuses on industry-led research and development, funding and mentorship for smaller firms, academia-industry collaboration and investment in futuristic areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonics and directed energy.

Defence Secretary and Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, and DRDO Chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh said VIMARSH 2026, built around the theme 'Varta se Vikas', was designed to align commercial innovation with national defence readiness and to embed private sector capabilities in the defence ecosystem. He said the forum aims to move the national security framework from a transactional buyer-seller relationship to a collaborative, co-created technology ecosystem.

He said technology transfer has expanded to the point of enabling parallel production lines that meet the requirements of the armed forces while benefiting MSMEs, and has eased the constraints of a limited manufacturing base. More than 2,300 technology transfers have been handed to over 1,100 industries so far, and technologies related to about 50 DRDO-developed missiles are currently available to industry.

A book titled 'Defence Systems for Resilient Bharat – Advancing Aatmanirbharta in Defence', documenting significant systems developed by DRDO technology clusters between 2014 and 2026, was released at the event, along with guidelines for Human Resource Outsourcing Service Contracts in DRDO. The guidelines set out a framework for service specifications, selection of service providers, contract administration, performance monitoring and compliance with contractual and statutory obligations across DRDO laboratories.

Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary (Defence Finance) Vishvajit Sahay and Distinguished Scientist and Director General (Production Coordination and Services Interaction) Dr Chandrika Kaushik were present. During technical sessions, Directors General of DRDO technological clusters outlined roadmaps for aeronautical systems, missiles, armaments, microelectronics and naval systems, and DRDO headquarters introduced measures to simplify procedures.