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हिन्दी — Read in HindiDefence indigenisation and exports
How India buys Indian for its defence: the acquisition procedure, the indigenisation lists, defence exports, foreign investment and the items reserved for Indian industry. It serves GS3 answers on the indigenisation of technology.
Foundation note: Defence indigenisation: the procedure, the lists and the corridors
Positive Indigenisation List
Copy link to Positive Indigenisation ListPrelims and Mains
A Positive Indigenisation List is a written assurance to private firms that an order is waiting for the defence parts it names.
- A private firm will not spend on developing a part unless it knows the order is waiting.
What changed
19 Aug 2026New
- The Department of Defence Production notified the sixth list.
- The items 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).
- The Defence Minister approved transferring the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) technologies for all conventional missile systems to Indian industry.
The Hindu, 19 Aug 2026: Sixth Positive Indigenisation List notified (opens in a new tab) · 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.