Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt told the Lok Sabha on Friday that the Centre has sanctioned ₹498.78 crore to encourage innovation and support start-ups in the defence and aerospace sector till 2026Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt speaks in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament in New Delhi

The domestic procurement of defence equipment has seen an upward curve over the past three years, from 54% in 2018-19 to 64% in 2020-21, Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt told the Lok Sabha on Friday, with this year’s target being 68%.

“An innovation ecosystem for defence, titled innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), was launched in April 2018 to foster innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace by engaging industries such as MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and the academia, and provide them grants/funding and other support to carry out R&D which has potential for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace needs. So far, 125 such problems have been opened, 136 startups have been engaged and 95 contracts have been signed,” Bhatt said.

In a written response to a series of questions from Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan Ruhi, the MoS defence informed that the import of defence equipment from 2017-21 was in the range of 33.97% and 41.60%.

Bhatt said that the Centre has sanctioned ₹498.78 crore to encourage innovation and support start-ups in the defence and aerospace sector till 2026. “This will enable more than 300 start-ups to participate in new design and development projects, and also support 20 partner incubators,” he said.

The central government has imposed a phased ban on the import of 310 different types of weapons, systems and ammunition (through three positive indigenisation lists), and earmarked ₹84,598 crore — 68 % of the military’s capital acquisition budget — for the purchase of indigenous weapons and systems in FY 2022-23. India on Tuesday cleared indigenous defence purchases worth ₹28,732 crore, including armed drones, carbines, bullet-proof jackets and ammunition.

The ministry has also created a list to indigenise imported items and achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing. “The list contains 2,500 imported items that have already been indigenised, and 351 high-value imported items which will be indigenised in the next three years. Of these 351 items, 147 have already been indigenised,” the ministry said.

Referring to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report, the ministry acknowledged that India is the third highest in military spending, only behind the United States and China.

The ministry has also formulated the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS) for the creation of 6-8 greenfield defence testing infrastructures in the country.