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Defence indigenisation and exports
How India buys arms and makes them at home: the acquisition council and its procedures, lists that reserve items for Indian industry, defence industrial corridors, exports and foreign investment. It serves GS3 answers on the indigenisation of technology.
All 2 subjects shown; the 1 that changed from 1 to 15 September 2026 are marked.Show only these
Positive Indigenisation List
Copy link to Positive Indigenisation ListPrelims and Mains
A private firm will not spend on developing a part unless it knows the order is waiting, and a Positive Indigenisation List is that assurance written down. The sixth one was notified in August.
- The Department of Defence Production notified the sixth list, of 405 items.
- The 405 are line replaceable units, sub-systems, spares and components rather than whole platforms.
- They fit platforms such as the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), the Su-30MKI, T-90 tanks and the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM).
- SRIJAN, the defence indigenisation portal, has listed over 33,000 items since 2020, of which over 15,700 are indigenised.
- In the same month the Defence Minister approved transferring the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) technologies for all conventional missile systems to Indian industry.
What changed
Background reading: PIB, 25 Aug 2026: DRDO missile technology transfer and sixth Positive Indigenisation List (opens in a new tab)
Defence Acquisition Council
Copy link to Defence Acquisition CouncilPrelims and Mains
Before the armed forces can buy anything large, a council chaired by the Defence Minister has to agree that they need it. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is where a capital purchase is first approved, and what it grants is a decision rather than a payment.
- Its clearance is the grant of Acceptance of Necessity, which is a decision to buy and not yet money committed.
- In September it cleared proposals worth about ₹1.10 lakh crore, about 98 per cent of it from Indian industry.
- The Army's list runs to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance vehicles, the Sarvatra Bridge System and Advanced Light Helicopters.
- The Navy's includes Arudhra radars and marine gas turbines for warship propulsion, to be developed at home.
- The Air Force's includes a ground based multi-purpose jammer against adversaries' radars.
What changed
7 Sep 2026
3 Jul 2026Update
- The Council gave Acceptance of Necessity to proposals worth about ₹52,000 crore.
- They include the Akash Tarang electronic warfare system against drones, a Very Short Range Air Defence System, an active protection system for tanks, jet powered kamikaze drones, and a fixed wing High Altitude Pseudo Satellite, a solar powered aircraft that loiters in the stratosphere and does a satellite's work at lower cost.