DRDO calls for ‘last-mile’ chip self-reliance at Bengaluru event

A defence system cannot be treated as fully indigenous if the component that makes it work is still imported, DRDO’s BK Das told a Bengaluru gathering on Tuesday.

Das, the organisation’s Director General for Electronics Communication Systems, said imported chips, software or algorithms could determine the effectiveness of an entire weapon system during a conflict, even where 95% of the system has been made in India. “You can’t fight a war with a 95% indigenous system where the critical 5% does not exist,” he said.

He called for “last-mile indigenisation” — designing, developing and manufacturing critical technologies within India — and urged researchers, start-ups, universities and industry to focus on indigenous chip design and next-generation semiconductor technologies.

The remarks came at a curtain-raiser for the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave 2026. DRDO will lead a session on semiconductors and next-generation chips at the conclave, scheduled at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi from October 27 to 29.