Indian Navy Awards ₹1,400 Crore Orders to Start-Ups and MSMEs to Promote Indigenous Innovation.

Since 2018, the Indian Navy has placed procurement orders worth ₹1,400 crore with 16 start-ups and MSMEs, reinforcing its push for self-reliance and innovation in defence capabilities.

Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, said proposals valued at over ₹2,700 crore have received Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) under the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework, with more than ₹1,400 crore in orders executed over the past six years. He made the remarks at a curtain-raiser event for Swavlamban 2025, the Navy’s flagship Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) seminar, scheduled at the Manekshaw Centre from November 25–26.

Highlighting the seminar’s focus on emerging and disruptive technologies to meet evolving security challenges, Vice Admiral Vatsayan noted that more than 565 iDEX challenges have been launched since 2018, 198 of them driven by the Navy. “Through this initiative, over 150 new start-ups and MSMEs have entered the defence innovation ecosystem,” he added.