New Delhi – The government has cleared the transfer of technology for all conventional missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation to Indian defence companies, opening the way for domestic firms to manufacture the systems under licence.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the move on Tuesday as the government seeks to take more defence technologies developed by DRDO from the laboratory stage into industrial production.
The decision is part of the wider effort to reduce India’s dependence on imported defence equipment and expand the role of Indian companies in the country’s military manufacturing base. The Defence Ministry said the move would also create opportunities for Indian MSMEs and other technology partners to participate in the supply chain.
The technology will not simply be handed over to companies without conditions. Eligible Indian firms will have to meet the required qualifications and certifications, with competitive bidding determining which companies receive the technology-transfer rights and work as development-cum-production partners alongside DRDO.
The significance of the decision lies in the shift from development to production.
DRDO has developed a range of missile systems for the armed forces, but moving a defence technology from a government laboratory into regular industrial production requires manufacturing capacity, quality control, supply chains and the ability to produce at scale.
By bringing private industry into that stage, the government is seeking to widen the country’s defence manufacturing base.
The move could also create opportunities for smaller engineering and technology companies that supply components and specialised systems to larger defence manufacturers. The Defence Ministry said the programme is intended to increase domestic value addition and strengthen the broader defence industrial ecosystem.
For India, the policy has a strategic dimension as well.
Reducing import dependence is not only about saving foreign exchange. A larger domestic manufacturing base gives the armed forces greater control over production, maintenance and future upgrades of equipment.
The government has increasingly pushed defence production towards Indian companies in recent years. Tuesday’s decision extends that approach to a wider set of conventional missile technologies developed by DRDO.
The actual impact will depend on how quickly companies are able to absorb the technologies and move them into production while meeting military standards.
For now, the decision represents another step in India’s attempt to build a defence industry capable of developing and manufacturing more of the equipment required by its armed forces.
