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The Indian Navy is set to showcase a decisive phase of its Atmanirbhar Bharat push as it hosts Swavlamban 2025 on 25–26 November, unveiling the latest progress under its flagship SPRINT innovation programme and outlining the road ahead for maritime self-reliance.
Launched in 2022, Swavlamban has rapidly grown into one of India’s most important defence innovation platforms. In just three years, the initiative has generated over 2,000 industry proposals, shaped 155 SPRINT challenges, and led to 171 contracts, with Rs 784 crore worth of contracts already completed. The Navy has also granted over Rs 2,000 crore in Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) and has formally onboarded 213 MSMEs and start-ups through iDEX.
Crucially, Navy officials highlight that 173 challenges, including all 75 challenges announced by the Prime Minister during Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, have been converted into tangible outcomes – an unprecedented acceleration in defence innovation.
Swavlamban 2025 will also feature new problem statements under Swavlamban 3.0, including a cutting-edge challenge to develop a High-Power Microwave Weapon System under ADITI 3.0, and seven new tri-service challenges under DISC 13 spanning AI, autonomous systems, bots and advanced communications.
Yet behind the impressive numbers lie structural challenges that the Navy is keen to confront. While proposals are abundant, officials acknowledge that the percentage converted into deployable systems must grow significantly. The service also faces hurdles in scaling up niche technologies, such as AI, quantum, directed-energy weapons, and autonomous platforms, where India’s R&D ecosystem is still maturing.
Efforts to integrate more MSMEs and start-ups into mission-critical technologies remain a work in progress. And the perennial gap between prototype and induction continues to slow down the “last mile” of indigenisation.
With more than 60 indigenous ships and submarines under construction, the Navy’s long-term trajectory toward a fully self-reliant fleet remains clear. But the outcome of Swavlamban 2025 will hinge on whether India can move from innovation volume to innovation velocity.
As the Navy prepares to release the 2024–25 Swavlamban report card, Swavlamban 2025 is poised to become not just a showcase of new technologies but a critical checkpoint in India’s marathon toward maritime technological autonomy.
Ravi Shankar
Dr Ravi Shankar has over two decades of experience in communications, print journalism, electronic media, documentary film making and new media.
He makes regular appearances on national television news channels as a commentator and analyst on current and political affairs. Apart from being an acknowledged Journalist, he has been a passionate newsroom manager bringing a wide range of journalistic experience from past associations with India’s leading media conglomerates (Times of India group and India Today group) and had led global news-gathering operations at world’s biggest multimedia news agency- ANI-Reuters. He has covered Parliament extensively over the past several years. Widely traveled, he has covered several summits as part of media delegation accompanying the Indian President, Vice President, Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister across Asia, Africa and Europe.
