India's Defence Industrial Policy
From Import to Co-development
For decades, India was the world's largest arms importer, reflecting a policy of procurement-over-production that left its defence industry dependent on foreign platforms and spare parts. A systematic shift began with the establishment of the Make in India programme in 2014, which identified defence as a focus sector. The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) was replaced by the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, which created a preference hierarchy favouring indigenously designed and manufactured products. The draft DAP 2026 goes further, defining indigenisation as requiring Indian companies to own the design, software, and upgrade rights — not merely manufacture the product on licence.
- India's defence export target: ₹50,000 crore by 2029–30 (from ₹23,622 crore in FY 2024–25, itself a record).
- Two Defence Industrial Corridors — Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow-Agra-Kanpur-Aligarh) and Tamil Nadu (Chennai-Coimbatore-Hosur) — provide land and infrastructure for domestic and foreign defence manufacturers.
- The iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) platform supports deep-tech startups for defence applications.
- Italy's defence companies — Leonardo (helicopters, avionics, electronics) and Fincantieri (naval vessels) — have existing ties with India's defence procurement ecosystem.
- India's defence co-development partnerships: France (Rafale, submarines under Project 75I), Russia (BrahMos, S-400), US (GE engines for AMCA), and now Italy (helicopters, naval armaments).
● Tracked since March 25, 2026 · last seen May 20, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes