India is moving rapidly towards becoming a defense exporter: Rajnath Singh!

Today, India is moving rapidly towards becoming a defense exporter from an importer. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said this on Tuesday. He said that in the last few years, startups and micro, small and medium enterprises have emerged as the new flag bearers of innovation in India. It is these small enterprises that give rise to new ideas and new technologies.

Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has created a framework through which startups and MSMEs can directly communicate with DRDO laboratories. You can get an opportunity to work in deep tech and specialized technologies.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh was speaking at the DRDO-Industry coordination meeting 'Vimarsh 2026' held in New Delhi. Here he said that the role of MSMEs and startups is very important in achieving the goal of self-reliant India.

These enterprises are developing cutting-edge technologies ranging from components and sub-systems of large defense systems. Now the partnership between DRDO and industries should not be limited to production only. Partnerships will have to be increased across the entire chain of research, design, testing, certification and manufacturing. Along with big industries, MSMEs and startups will also have to be made an integral part of the defense supply chain.

The Defense Minister said, “Today DRDO has the knowledge and technology, industry has the expansion and manufacturing capacity, startups have the ability to innovate and work fast and our youth have the dream of a new India. When these four powers come together, no goal will remain impossible. When these four powers move in one direction, no power in the world can stop India's defense capability.”

He said that the new policies and guidelines issued today have also brought new possibilities for the industry. Their focus is to promote industry-led research and development, startups and financing of micro, small and medium enterprises. The focus has been on promoting collaboration between academia and industry and investment in future technologies such as AI, quantum computing and hypersonics.

Rajnath Singh said, “DRDO is today the top organization for research and development in the defense sector. However, the truth is that the efforts of the government or DRDO alone are not enough for research and development in the defense sector.

This is a collaborative effort. This cooperation is the main message of this discussion 2026. Only partnership between Defense Research and Development Organization and industry can make India a global hub of defense manufacturing. It is important to develop any product in India, but even more important is to develop the capability and confidence to make the product.

That's why we started many schemes, so that we can bring forward talents from every city, every town, every street of India and the whole country can join together in the tune of self-reliance. And I am happy to say that we are succeeding to a great extent.”

The Defense Minister clarified that self-reliance does not mean developing only some spare parts, some missiles, some weapon equipment. He said, “Self-reliance should be part of our character. It should be part of our attitude.

A country which has its own technology also has the power to decide its future. Therefore, there should be a feeling of self-reliance in our soul, in our mind, in our thoughts, in our consciousness. The reforms we have seen in the defense sector in the last few years are unprecedented.

He said that under the vision and leadership of our Prime Minister, we have taken many important decisions. Be it the Positive Indigenization List, the 'Make in India' initiative, IDEX, Aditi, or the decision to allocate 25 per cent of the Defense R&D budget to the private sector, you have seen and felt all this.

We did everything we could to ensure that we will not be dependent on imports in the defense sector, but will move towards self-reliance.” Many important policies and guidelines were also issued in this program organized on Tuesday. Many important MoUs have also been exchanged. Technology transfer and transfer of contracts have also happened in this sequence.