Make In India At An Inflexion Point, Ready For 2.0

Make in India is at a crucial turning point and ready for its next phase, according to Anshuman Tripathi, a former member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and an international aerospace and defence consultant. In an interview with BharatShakti Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale, Tripathi emphasised that both the entrepreneurial and government ecosystems have matured in their understanding of the importance of indigenisation. This shift has been accelerated by changing geopolitics and events such as Operation Sindoor, which followed the Pahalgam terror attack in April.

“Last year, I had said at your BharatShakti’s annual event that Make in India was going through an inflexion point. Since then, it has crossed several. We are now ready for Make in India 2.0,” he said, noting the shift from merely assembling imported equipment to sourcing components from friendly nations and, increasingly, producing them domestically.

Tripathi stressed that the next challenge is speed, acquiring advanced technologies from abroad and embedding them into India’s industrial base. He cited missed opportunities such as Tata’s recent $4.4 billion acquisition of Italian truck maker Iveco’s commercial unit, where its defence division, valued at $1.5 billion, was snapped up by U.S. private equity firms.

India, he argued, needs private equity and sovereign funds dedicated to strategic technology buys. “The government has launched the Rs 1 lakh crore RDI (Research, Development, Innovation) scheme, but we must go beyond domestic funding. Current RBI and SEBI restrictions on overseas investments, like the $1.5 billion annual cap for Alternate Investment Funds, limit our ability to acquire critical foreign technologies.”

Technology Transfer

Tripathi warned against mistaking manufacturing rights for genuine technology transfer. “Often we get 80% of the tech; the critical 20% is withheld. Without that, you can’t develop the next version.” He called for breaking down silos between civilian and defence R&D, following the “civil-military fusion” models of the U.S. and China.

Opportunities in Dual-Use and Anti-Drone Tech

Citing drones as an example, he said India must move from assembling imported parts, “putting lipstick on the pig”, to manufacturing key components. He identified anti-drone solutions as a current high-growth segment, alongside deeper investment in fundamental, dual-use technologies in sectors such as space and cyber.

“From startups to MSMEs, the ecosystem must leapfrog into higher-value, riskier tech development if we are to meet our 2047 developed nation goal,” Tripathi concluded.

Team BharatShakti