Defence Economics & Industry

About Centre

India spends a significant amount of resources on its national defence. Efficiency in utilisation of resources is not only an economic imperative but vital for defence preparedness. In view of this, the Defence Economics and Industry Centre was created in 2006 to promote research on various economic aspects of India’s defence. Since its inception, the Centre has undertaken a number of policy relevant studies besides constantly engaging vital stakeholders (Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces and Industry) on a range of issues. The major focus areas of the Centre are:

Defence Acquisition
- Organisational and procedural improvement
- Offsets
Defence Industry
- Self-reliance in Defence Production
- Efficiency of Defence Public Sector Undertakings/Ordnance Factory Board
- Enhancing Private Sector Participation in Defence Production
Defence Research and Development
Defence Budget

Budgetary Reforms: The Forgotten Agenda

Micro and macro-level budgetary reforms are required to ensure optimum utilisation of the allocated resources for executing financially viable plans.

Amit Cowshish
August 02, 2022
IDSA Comments

US and EU Sanctions on Russian Defence Industry

US and EU sanctions against key Russian arms producing firms, design bureaus and export organisations have had significant implications for Russian arms importing nations.

Ukraine’s Nuclear Disarmament Decision and Security Assurances

Ukraine’s security predicament in the face of the Russian military onslaught brings into focus the vacuity of big power security assurances in the absence of legally binding security guarantees and treaty commitments.

Mukesh Kumar
June 10, 2022
IDSA Comments

India–Israel Defence Trade and Defence Indigenisation

The Srijan defence indigenisation portal is a limited but concrete example of the implications of India’s defence indigenisation efforts for key strategic partners like Israel.

S. Samuel C. Rajiv
February 04, 2022
Issue Brief

Defence Procurement in India: A Historical Perspective

Defence procurement in India needs to adopt a mix of procurement avenues in which the indigenous solutions, foreign equipment and futuristic R&D continue together in a balanced manner. Considering that piecemeal solutions are not effective in the long term, there is a need to adopt a ‘Systems Approach’ to come up with a holistic solution which is enduring and progressive.

Manish Rana
December 02, 2021
IDSA Comments

Modernisation of Indian Armed Forces through Indigenisation

In the current geopolitical situation, India needs to increase the indigenous defence production and build a strong military force armed with technologically advanced defence equipment to create a robust security framework that meets the requisites of modern warfare.

Richa Tokas
November 05, 2021
IDSA Comments

Public Procurement Framework in India

The GFR 2017 permit individual ministries to issue detailed instructions to address the needs and complexities of procurement carried out by them. The question is whether those principles and rules come in the way of the Ministry of Defence evolving a more efficient procurement procedure that meets the armed forces’ aspirations.

Amit Cowshish
August 19, 2021
IDSA Comments

Viable Alternatives Required to Replace Existing Procurement Procedures

If existing procurement procedures are a hindrance in acquiring state-of-the-art defence materiel expeditiously, a case needs to be made out, based on demonstrable drawbacks of the existing system for a detailed blueprint of what system should replace it.

Amit Cowshish
August 10, 2021
IDSA Comments

Self-Reliance in Defence Sector

The Ministry of Defence has taken significant steps in recent times to boost domestic defence manufacturing and increase the role of the private sector to reduce dependence on imports and achieve self-reliance.

Richa Tokas
August 04, 2021
IDSA Comments

Who is Responsible for Defence of India?

Defence of India is a multi-dimensional responsibility involving coordination with not only organisations within MoD, but also several external departments and agencies. Irrespective of whether the subject of defence of India is assigned to DoD or DMA, it is the defence minister who is responsible for the subjects allocated to the ministry.