Innovations for Defence Excellence

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) is a Ministry of Defence initiative that connects defence users with innovators to develop indigenous solutions. Its core objective is to create an ecosystem that fosters innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace by engaging start-ups, MSMEs, individual innovators, research institutions and academia.

Core objective

iDEX seeks to convert operational requirements of the armed forces into opportunities for indigenous innovation. It aims to discover, support and enable the adoption of technologies developed by start-ups and MSMEs, thereby strengthening India's defence innovation ecosystem.

• It promotes rapid development of new, indigenously designed products and technologies for defence and aerospace needs.
• It widens defence innovation beyond established suppliers by involving individual innovators, academia and research institutions.
• It encourages solutions that can improve military capability while advancing technological self-reliance.

How the ecosystem operates

The initiative identifies problems through innovation challenges and supports selected innovators with funding, mentoring, incubation, access to facilities and interaction with defence users. This challenge-based model links technological development to clearly expressed operational needs.

• Innovators receive opportunities to develop and demonstrate prototypes against specified requirements.
• User interaction and testing help refine solutions for possible adoption by the armed forces.
• The approach helps bridge the gap between promising research and deployable defence products.

Institutional framework

iDEX functions under the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, and is implemented through the Defence Innovation Organisation. This framework brings together the armed forces, government, industry, incubators and knowledge institutions.