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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday unveiled the Delegation of Financial Powers to DRDO (DFP-2026), a revamped framework aimed at giving the country’s premier defence research organisation greater financial and administrative autonomy to accelerate research and development projects.
The new framework is intended to improve efficiency, strengthen accountability and ensure the timely execution of strategic defence programmes, enabling faster development, production and induction of indigenous military systems and technologies into the Armed Forces.
The Defence Ministry said the reforms would also deepen collaboration between DRDO, industry and academia, reinforcing the government’s push for self-reliance in defence under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
DFP-2026 substantially expands the functional and financial powers delegated at different levels within the Department of Defence R&D. For the first time, it introduces dedicated financial provisions for trial campaigns, testing and evaluation activities, while also empowering authorities to sanction pre-project research and development initiatives.
The revised framework further streamlines funding mechanisms by clearly defining financial powers for grants-in-aid under the Extra-Mural Research Projects (EMRPs), the Defence Innovation Accelerator-Centres of Excellence (DIA-CoEs), and the Technology Development Fund (TDF) programme.
Officials said the measures are designed to reduce procedural delays and provide greater flexibility to project managers, allowing critical technologies to move more quickly from the laboratory to the battlefield.
Alongside DFP-2026, the Defence Minister also released the Delegation of Financial Powers to Defence Services (DFPDS-2026), which seeks to expedite defence procurement by enabling quicker financial approvals and operational decision-making across the armed forces.
The release ceremony in New Delhi was attended by Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Defence Secretary and DRDO Chairman Rajesh Kumar Singh, along with the Secretaries of Defence Production and Ex-Servicemen Welfare, senior DRDO scientists and officials from the Ministry of Defence and the finance division.
Team BharatShakti
