India’s journey toward a Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047 is often measured by manufacturing milestones, indigenisation targets, and defence export figures. Recently, the nation celebrated new peaks in defence production, hitting a record ₹1.54 lakh crore in the 2024-25 fiscal year, driven by the Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative and government support. Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more profound truth: India's defence future will be shaped less by what we produce and more by how we think.

In an era defined by artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, cyber warfare, and space-based defence, national security cannot be limited to industrial challenges. It is a knowledge, capability, and governance challenge, one that sits at the intersection of higher education, technology, and institutions.

Knowledge Revolution in Defence Production

Modern defence platforms have evolved. They are no longer static assets but adaptive, software-driven, and data-intensive systems. Whether it’s AI-enabled surveillance, predictive maintenance, or network-centric warfare, defence production today demands systems thinking, interdisciplinary capability, and continuous learning within institutions. This transformation fundamentally changes the role of universities and training institutions. Beyond just talent suppliers at the end of a pipeline, they need to be co-creators of national capability, shaping the very foundation of India’s strategic future.

Universities and Incubators: The New Defence Factories

India’s policy ecosystem is already responding to this shift. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 calls for multidisciplinary education, flexible learning pathways, and closer integration between academia, industry, and research. Mission Karmayogi extends this philosophy into the public sector, reimagining capacity building as a continuous, competency-based process. Together, these reforms provide the intellectual scaffolding for a future-ready defence ecosystem, one where universities and incubators are as critical as factories and assembly lines.

From Degrees to Capabilities: Transforming Higher Education

For decades, higher education in India has been primarily focused on obtaining credentials. Defence production in a Viksit Bharat requires a decisive shift toward capability-building. Future defence professionals must be trained not just in engineering or management, but in systems engineering, lifecycle thinking, data-driven decision-making, strategic procurement, and innovation within large public institutions. The emphasis on multidisciplinary universities, experiential learning, and research-led teaching in NEP 2020 creates the conditions for this shift. But implementation matters. Defence-linked curricula must move beyond theory and engage with real national challenges, such as the shortage of critical minerals, supply chain resilience, indigenisation constraints, quality assurance, and sustainability.

NADP’s Bold Mission: Building Leaders for Atma Nirbhar Bharat

At the heart of this transformation stands the National Academy of Defence Production (NADP), a premier institution under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. NADP’s vision is clear: “Contribute to Capacity Building for Atma Nirbhar Bharat in the domain of Defence Production Management by excellence through Education, Training, Research and Consultancy through partnerships and collaboration.”

NADP carries the 200-year heritage in defence manufacturing of ordnance factories and its evolution into a premier Central Training Institute, recognized by DoPT and accredited as “Ati Uttam” by the Capacity Building Commission. NADP has trained over 20,000 officers from IOFS, IOFHS, IDAS, CLS, Armed Forces, and private defence industries. But we are not just rooted in India—we think global.

NADP’s flagship Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Business Management) [PGDM (BM)] program, with focus on Defence is a transformative initiative designed to cultivate techno-managerial leaders for India’s defence and manufacturing sectors. Launched in 2023, this AICTE-approved, fully residential two-year program is the first of its kind in the country, uniquely blending management education with defence production expertise.

A National Mission in Motion: NADP’s Impact and Industry Alignment

Rooted in the vision of “Capacity Building for Atma Nirbhar Bharat, the PGDM (BM) program is a strategic investment in India’s self-reliance and innovation-driven defence ecosystem. With a curriculum that integrates core management disciplines, cutting-edge technologies, and defence-specific modules, the program prepares professionals to lead with insight, agility, and purpose in a rapidly evolving strategic environment.

Mentored by IIM Indore, the program ensures academic rigour and global standards in pedagogy. Students engage in real-world projects, case studies, and simulations, supported by content from Harvard Business Publishing and the Capacity Building Commission. NADP’s PGDM (BM) program nurtures well-rounded professionals. Leadership development is fostered through Toastmasters Club, outbound Sahas camps, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming workshops. Emotional intelligence is cultivated through psychometric assessments, Sahaj Yoga, and EQ sessions.

Innovation is embedded in the learning journey, with students and faculty filing multiple patents and participating in ideation workshops and entrepreneurship seminars through the Innovation Cell, supported by inFED, IIMN incubator.

The program offers unmatched exposure through collaborations with institutions such as Eudoxia Research University in the USA and participation in international conferences, including Global Nexus 2025 and HR Conclave 2024.

A cornerstone of this transformation is the Capstone Project initiative. This rigorous, real-world engagement empowers students to apply their learning to solve complex, sector-specific challenges. In Defence Technology and Strategic Studies, students have explored the integration of Artificial Intelligence in night vision systems, conducted strategic evaluations of Main Battle Tanks, and analysed defence equities and international marketing strategies. These projects, including collaborations with Ernst & Young and Yantra India Limited, demonstrate a rare blend of technical depth and strategic foresight.

Capstone Projects in Operations, Production, and Cost Optimisation have delivered tangible outcomes. From performance-based production allocation models and live dashboards at OF Ambajhari to lean manufacturing and cost optimization in explosives at OF Chanda  and OF Bhandara, students have contributed directly to enhancing productivity and resource efficiency.

Mission Karmayogi: Shaping the Defence Workforce of the Future

If NEP 2020 reshapes the pipeline, Mission Karmayogi reshapes the system. Defence production in India is primarily operated through public institutions, including DPSUs, ordnance factories, quality assurance organisations, and procurement bodies. Their effectiveness depends not just on rules and structures, but also on human capability and how they can engage the private sector to build the defence factories of the future.

Mission Karmayogi’s focus on role-based competencies, continuous upskilling, digital learning platforms, and behavioural and ethical capacity is particularly relevant for defence production, where technology is evolving faster than institutional processes. NADP is developing into an institution that belongs to the entire community—public and private, students and researchers—who seek new horizons, test and apply knowledge into state-of-the-art systems operated by an agile business ecosystem and business models, making India self-reliant, self-sufficient, and self-confident.

The real promise of Mission Karmayogi lies in creating intrapreneurs within the state—professionals who can innovate responsibly within complex, regulated environments. This is essential if India is to transition from licensed production to original design and achieve global competitiveness through its own model of reform, rather than copying Western models, which may not be applicable in the Indian context.

Technology Needs Values: Ethics and Accountability in Defence

As India integrates AI, automation, and digital twins into defence production, a critical question emerges: Who decides how these technologies are used and where the red lines lie? The emphasis on Indian knowledge systems and ethics in NEP 2020 is strategically significant. Being rooted in the past gives confidence to look to the future with solid pedestals. Autonomous systems, decision-support tools, and predictive algorithms must be aligned with democratic accountability, strategic restraint, and human oversight, as guided by the principles of Dharma from our ancient Indian scriptures.

Defence education, therefore, must integrate responsible AI, ethics of autonomy, civil-military relations, and public value and accountability. Technology without philosophy scales power. Technology with values sustains trust. NADP, at the confluence of a training institution and temple of learning, is attempting to reshape the acquisition, adoption, and creation of technology through thought leadership.

Since the launch of its first eLearning course on the iGOT Karmayogi platform on July 4, 2024, NADP has empowered 372,398 learners across India’s government ecosystem, with an average course rating of 4.5 and above as of October 7, 2025. With over 50 curated courses and multiple thematic programmes, NADP is shaping a future-ready, knowledge-driven, and ethically grounded civil service. More than 5,00,000 learners, as on date, have completed NADP's courses, with a completion rate of over 70%, a notable achievement.

From “Make in India” to “Think in India”: Intellectual Sovereignty

India’s defence indigenisation agenda will succeed only when intellectual sovereignty accompanies manufacturing capacity. This means original design thinking emerging from Indian institutions, universities acting as long-term research partners to industry and the armed forces, faculty and students engaging with national missions, and public sector professionals being trained to absorb and adapt new technologies, while taking their rightful place in global rankings. NEP 2020 and Mission Karmayogi together point towards this outcome—but only if institutions embrace the spirit, not just the language, of reform.

The Silent Advantage: Aligning Education, Capacity, and Values

The most advanced defence ecosystems in the world share one common trait: they invest relentlessly in people, learning, and institutions. India’s silent advantage lies in its ability to align education reform, public sector capacity building, indigenous technology development, and civilisational values. If this alignment holds, Viksit Bharat will not be defined merely by defence exports or self-reliance statistics. It will be determined by strategic confidence—the ability to design, decide, and defend on our own terms.

Conclusion: Minds, Institutions, and the Future of Viksit Bharat

In the long run, the strongest defence systems will not be those with the most advanced hardware, but those built on educated minds, ethical judgment, and institutional capability, where the future is created today through new knowledge creation and innovation. That future is being shaped today—quietly—in India’s classrooms and training institutions. The freshness of thought coming from institutions like the Capacity Building Commission and NADP signals a new era.

Let us remember, India’s defence future is not just about factories and exports. It is about minds, values, and institutions. It is about thinking in India, for India, and for the world.

(The author is Principal Director,  National Academy of Defence Production (NADP), Nagpur, India. The article is a sponsored collaboration. Views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at jp.dash@nadp.ac.in )