Defence indigenisation: the procedure, the lists and the corridors
Prelims and MainsCurrent affairs on this: Defence indigenisation and exports
India buys weapons under the Defence Acquisition Procedure, 2020, whose first choice is Indian. Every purchase is placed in a category, in order of preference: Buy (Indian, indigenously designed, developed and manufactured), Buy (Indian), Buy and Make (Indian), Buy (Global, manufacture in India) and Buy (Global), with rising indigenous content up the list. The Defence Acquisition Council under the Defence Minister grants the acceptance of necessity that starts a purchase. Alongside the procedure, the Positive Indigenisation Lists name items the armed forces may no longer import after a set date, so that industry can plan to make them. Two defence corridors, in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, offer land and incentives; foreign direct investment is allowed up to 74 per cent automatically and beyond with approval. The goal is an industry that supplies the forces and exports, with a target of Rs 50,000 crore of exports a year by 2029.
Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 categories
| Category | Meaning | Indigenous content | Preference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy (Indian, IDDM) | designed, developed and made in India | highest | first |
| Buy (Indian) | made in India, may use foreign design | high | second |
| Buy and Make (Indian) | Indian vendor buys the design, makes in India with transfer of technology | rises over the contract | third |
| Buy (Global, manufacture in India) | foreign vendor, part of the order made in India | set share | fourth |
| Buy (Global) | imported, only when nothing Indian meets the need | none required | last |
- The five categories fix the share of Indian content: highest for indigenously designed items, which get first preference; a Buy (Global) purchase needs a written case that nothing Indian exists.
- Instruments for industry: iDEX grants for start ups, the SRIJAN portal listing items for indigenisation, the Technology Development Fund, and Make I and Make II routes where government or industry funds a prototype.
- The lists: six positive indigenisation lists since 2020, the first five of major platforms and systems, from artillery guns and assault rifles to helicopters and next generation corvettes, and the sixth, of August 2026, of sub systems, spares and components, each item with a year after which import is barred; separate lists cover components for the public sector units.
- Exports have grown from a few hundred crore a decade ago to over Rs 20,000 crore a year, led by BrahMos to the Philippines, Pinaka rockets, Akash, Dornier aircraft and ammunition; the 2029 target is Rs 50,000 crore.
- Corridors: Uttar Pradesh (Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Kanpur, Lucknow) and Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore, Hosur, Salem, Tiruchirappalli); the nodes are where private firms and the ordnance factories, now seven corporations, sit.
- The limits: engines, high end sensors and materials still come from abroad, which is why the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) engine and the Kaveri programme carry so much weight.
Mains: Indigenisation is a procurement rule before it is an industrial policy: the forces buy Indian when the procedure makes it the path of least resistance, and the lists and corridors exist to make sure something Indian is there to buy.
Further reading: Demand for Grants Analysis: Defence (PRS India)
See also: Positive Indigenisation List · Defence Acquisition Council · BrahMos exports · Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft engine · Stealth: radar cross section and how to shrink it