SWAVLAMBAN 2026: Rajnath Singh Calls for Aatmanirbharta 2.0

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh asked the defence sector to move into what he called Aatmanirbharta 2.0, a second phase of self-reliance resting on top-end technology, stronger research and supply chains that do not snap under pressure. He was speaking at the fifth edition of SWAVLAMBAN, the Indian Navy's Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Seminar, in New Delhi on 26 October 2026. The first phase, he said, has laid a base firm enough for the country to attempt goals still thought difficult, and to serve the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047. Defence innovators with a futuristic outlook, he added, can be the 'impact players' of this next phase.

Supply chains as a strategic question

The Raksha Mantri treated supply chain management as a matter of national security rather than a technical detail. He asked for a dynamic roadmap that fixes a timeline for each item, names the technologies to be built, the industries that will build them and the resources they need. Thin domestic availability of raw materials such as rare earth elements, and the absence of particular technologies at home, are what create outside dependence; buffer stocks and home production capacity must therefore be assessed in advance rather than in the middle of a crisis.

Research, risk and the private sector

Failure must stop being feared, the Minister said, noting that even advanced research ecosystems record high failure rates. He asked whether funding mechanisms could be designed for high-risk, high-reward work, and whether more private money could be drawn into research, since private firms carry risk more readily. He pointed to Israel, South Korea and the United States, where innovation is treated as a way of life, and sought a deeper research culture in India through industry-academia ties and more openings for the young.

iDEX and the Navy's numbers

Under iDEX, start-ups and MSMEs have answered 229 challenges issued by the Indian Navy with more than 4,000 proposals. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan said Navy-specific iDEX challenges have grown from 20 in 2022 to 229, roughly 35 per cent of all iDEX challenges across defence. He added that 41 Acceptance of Necessity cases worth over Rs 3,500 crore have been accorded and 25 contracts valued at over Rs 1,900 crore signed.

Roadmap, exhibition and releases

Shri Rajnath Singh asked for a Dual Technology Roadmap to pick out technologies useful to both civil and military shipping, going beyond the existing Positive Indigenisation Lists, and for items usable across all three Services and the Indian Coast Guard, which he described as jointness applied to technology. He also flagged Buyer Nominated Equipment as a remaining area of import dependence. The Minister released the Compendium of Technology Imperatives, Problems Statements and Future Concepts along with the Swavlamban 5.0 document, and toured a technology exhibition of over 100 stalls run by start-ups and MSMEs.