New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has decided that 25 per cent of the domestic capital procurement and acquisition budget amounting to Rs 21,149.47 crore, will be earmarked for domestic private industry in 2022-23.

This is in continuation of the government's efforts to promote private industry, MSMEs and start-ups in the defence production ecosystem.

A Defence Ministry release said that it has also been decided that an amount of Rs 1,500 crore will be earmarked for procurement from start-ups, including iDEX start-up, from within the allocations for domestic capital procurement.

The move is aimed at fostering innovation and encouraging technology development in defence.

The release said that the Ministry of Defence had decided to earmark 68 per cent of the capital procurement budget for the domestic industry during 2022-23.

Accordingly, an amount of Rs. 84,597.89 crore was allocated for the domestic defence industry in the current financial year.