Defence Indigenisation and Procurement

The policy instrument is a ban, not an incentive

The core mechanism behind India's defence indigenisation push is easy to state precisely, and precision is exactly what a question on it tests. A Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) names specific items, weapon systems, sub-systems, components, spares, and sets a fixed date beyond which those items cannot be imported at all. From that date, the armed forces and defence public sector undertakings must procure them from domestic sources.

This is a subtle but important distinction from a subsidy or an incentive scheme. It does not make domestic manufacturing more attractive; it makes the alternative, importing, illegal after a deadline. That is a much stronger lever, and it is why the lists are announced with specific timelines attached to each item rather than as a general aspiration.

The Ministry of Defence has issued five Positive Indigenisation Lists so far, jointly through the Department of Defence Production and the Department of Military Affairs, together covering more than 5,500 items, of which over 3,000 have been indigenised. The items are not trivial hardware: past lists have included artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircraft, light combat helicopters and radars, which is worth knowing because it corrects the assumption that indigenisation lists are only about small components.

The framework the lists operate within

The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 is the rulebook governing how the armed forces actually buy equipment, and it replaced the earlier Defence Procurement Procedure of 2016. DAP 2020 was explicitly built around the reforms announced under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, so the Positive Indigenisation Lists function as one mechanism operating inside this broader procurement framework rather than as a separate, standalone policy.

The SRIJAN portal, launched by the Department of Defence Production in August 2020, is the practical platform underneath all of this. It lets Defence Public Sector Undertakings and the Armed Forces list items they currently import, so that Indian private manufacturers can identify what to develop domestically. As of a recent count, the portal carried over 38,000 items, with more than 14,000 successfully indigenised through it, a considerably larger number than the formal Positive Indigenisation Lists alone, because SRIJAN covers a far wider range of components than the headline lists do.

Startups get their own route: iDEX

Positive Indigenisation Lists and DAP 2020 govern large, established manufacturers and DPSUs. A separate track exists for smaller innovators, because a startup or an individual inventor cannot compete for a defence contract the same way an established manufacturer does.

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), run through the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), provides funding and mentorship directly to startups, MSMEs, individual innovators and academic researchers working on defence and aerospace technology. It was approved with Rs 498.80 crore of budgetary support over five years (2021-22 to 2025-26), intended to support roughly 300 startups and MSMEs through about 20 partner incubators. The ADITI scheme, a further Rs 750 crore allocation, sits inside the iDEX framework specifically for critical and strategic defence technologies.

The programme is not merely a funding exercise on paper: the Ministry of Defence has cleared procurement of items worth over Rs 2,400 crore developed by iDEX-supported startups and MSMEs for the Armed Forces, which is the actual test of whether an innovation scheme converts into fielded equipment.

The output: defence exports as the scorecard

All of this policy machinery, the indigenisation lists, DAP 2020, SRIJAN, iDEX, is ultimately measured by one number: how much of what India builds for its own forces is now good enough, and cheap enough, to sell abroad. Defence exports reached roughly Rs 23,600 crore in 2024-25, split between the private sector and DPSUs, with the private sector now contributing the larger share. The stated target is to cross Rs 50,000 crore in exports by 2029, which frames indigenisation not just as import substitution but as a deliberate export strategy.

Quick revision points

• A Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) is a ban with a deadline, not an incentive: named items cannot be imported after a fixed date, forcing procurement from domestic sources.
• Five PILs issued by the Department of Defence Production and Department of Military Affairs jointly, covering over 5,500 items, of which more than 3,000 are indigenised. Items include artillery guns, corvettes, sonar systems and radars, not only small components.
• Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 replaced DPP-2016 as the governing procurement rulebook, built around Atmanirbhar Bharat reforms. PILs operate inside this framework.
• iDEX, run through the Defence Innovation Organisation, is the separate route for startups, MSMEs and individual innovators who cannot compete for contracts the way established manufacturers do: Rs 498.80 crore over five years, plus the ADITI scheme (Rs 750 crore) for critical and strategic technologies within it.
• Defence exports reached roughly Rs 23,600 crore in 2024-25, target Rs 50,000 crore by 2029: the scorecard that ties all these policies together, framing indigenisation as export strategy, not only import substitution.
• SRIJAN portal (August 2020): lets DPSUs and the Armed Forces list currently-imported items for Indian manufacturers to target. Over 38,000 items listed, 14,000+ indigenised, a larger scope than the PILs alone because it is not limited to headline weapon systems.