The Defense Ministry of India has recently announced a total funding of Rs 500 Crore over start-ups looking to create products and solutions for the defense sector. The Defense Ministry is planning to fund a total of 250 start-ups in the defense sector which will help them achieve 50 tangible innovations in the next 5 years.

The Government plans to support start-ups and MSMEs to help achieve self-reliance in the defense sector as well as boost the ‘Make in India’ program in defense arms production. The move is supposed to encourage Indian start-ups in the R&D sector, where India still lags behind, with a slow pace in patent filing compared to developed countries.

The previous year, The Defense Ministry had invited start-ups to solve defense challenges in laser weaponry, see-through armor, unmanned surface, underwater vehicles, and AI in logistics. The government tried to create products relevant to national security and encourage innovation in the Indian Defense sector.

Last year in the month of April, The Defense Ministry had launched IDEX (Innovation for Defense Excellence) initiative and the ‘Defense India Start-up Challenge’ in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission. The present investment of Rs 500 Crore is an extension of the Defense India Start-up Challenge. In the third phase of the ‘Defense India Start-up Challenge’, the Defense Minister of India Rajnath Singh said: “India will emerge as an exporter of defense technologies and it can be achieved through ideation, innovation, and incubation in cutting-edge technologies”.

The Government is also inviting start-ups to come up with their own innovation and products that can be used for military purposes in India. Some of the start-ups which are already working in the defense sector include – IdeaForge, VizExperts, Tondo and Aadyah Aerospace.