Indigenous drone production ecosystem needed for strategic autonomy: Rajnath | India News
New Delhi: Defense Minister Dr Rajnath Singh Thursday emphasized the urgent need to build a drone manufacturing ecosystem in the country to ensure strategic autonomy, enhance defense preparedness and make the nation self-reliant in the field in view of the current geopolitical uncertainty.“India must work in mission mode to emerge as a global hub for indigenous drone manufacturing in the next few years,” Rajnath said at the inaugural session of the National Defense Industries Conclave.He said ongoing conflicts ranging from Russia-Ukraine to tensions between Iran and Israel prove that drone and counter-drone technologies will play a key role in future warfare and that ‘self-reliance’ in drone manufacturing is essential not only at the product level but also at the component level.“From the mold of the drone to its software, engines and batteries, everything should be made in India. This is not an easy task. In most countries where drones are manufactured, a significant number of critical components are currently imported from China,” he said.Rajnath said that building a country’s defense industry ecosystem depends on the contribution of large industries, MSMEs, startups and innovators, equally driven by a clear policy push from the government tailored to meet the country’s specific defense requirements. While he called for active contribution from the private sector, he extended the government’s full support to transform India into a global hub for indigenous drone manufacturing.The Minister described iDEX (Innovation for Defense Excellence) and ADITI (Development of Innovative Technologies with IDX) as game-changer initiatives, through which start-ups, innovators and MSMEs are provided opportunities to develop innovative solutions to meet the specific requirements of the Defense Forces.He said that “as of February 2026, 676 startups, MSMEs and individual innovators have joined the defense innovation ecosystem since the inception of iDEX in 2018. A total of 548 contracts have been signed; and 566 challenges have been launched”. Of these, 58 prototypes have been cleared for procurement, worth around Rs 3,853 crore, he said.“Furthermore, 45 procurement contracts have already been signed, worth around Rs 2,326 crore. These figures show that innovation is slowly transforming into tangible products and technologies, and the role of our startups and MSMEs in this transformation is steadily strengthening,” Rajnath said.
