CHENNAI, March 26: To accelerate indigenous engineering capabilities and reduce dependence on external sources for critical military technologies, Indian Army’s Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) is partnering with IIT-Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation.
The partnership is expected to significantly strengthen India’s domestic defence ecosystem by enabling faster translation of research into deployable, field-ready technologies while reinforcing Chennai’s position as a key node in the country’s defence innovation landscape.
The MoU for this landmark collaboration, which is a major push toward defence indigenisation and the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, was signed today by representatives of Corps of EME and Pravartak in Chennai.
The Corps of EME is the technical backbone of the Indian Army responsible for maintaining and sustaining its weapon platforms.
The partnership will enable a structured approach to jointly identify, develop and deploy indigenous solutions tailored to the evolving operational and maintenance needs of the Indian Army.
It will focus on bridging the gap between field requirements and cutting-edge research by integrating academic expertise, industry capabilities and military insights.
As part of this initiative, a Nodal Indigenisation Centre (NIC) has been established at Avadi near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to leverage the region’s industrial ecosystem and strengthen the Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor as a hub for defence manufacturing and innovation.
The partnership, facilitated through the HQ Base Workshop Group and the Directorate of Indigenisation of the Indian Army, is designed to create a robust framework for high-end collaboration in advanced technology development and translational research.
IITM Pravartak is a Section 8 company and a Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), hosted by IIT Madras.
Highlighting the significance of this initiative, Dr. M.J. Shankar Raman, CEO, IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation, said, “India’s journey toward self-reliance in defence technologies requires strong synergy between the armed forces, academia and innovation ecosystems. This partnership is a significant step toward accelerating indigenous solutions that are technologically robust and operationally relevant.”
Further, Maj. Gen. Lalit Kapoor, VSM, Commander, Base Workshop Group (EME), Indian Army, said, “This collaboration strengthens our indigenisation efforts by leveraging cutting-edge research. By working closely with IITM Pravartak, the Corps of EME aims to enhance operational readiness, upgrade legacy weapon platforms with advanced technologies, and develop niche capabilities for future roles, while significantly reducing dependence on external sources.”
Under this collaboration, key focus areas will include identifying problem statements from Army equipment and subsystems, co-developing indigenous technologies and prototypes, undertaking technical validation and field evaluation, and supporting productisation for deployment.
Pravartak will work closely with the Nodal Indigenisation Centre to drive projects in critical domains such as sensing systems, cyber-physical systems and autonomous technologies, while enabling participation from startups and academic partners. The Corps of EME will provide operational requirements and validation support to ensure real-world applicability.
Lt Gen Karanbir Singh Brar, PVSM, AVSM (Retd) and a Distinguished Strategic Advisor, IITM Pravartak, added, “Indigenisation is an operational necessity for modern armed forces. This collaboration brings together domain expertise from the Army and innovation from academia. With the Nodal Indigenisation Centre in Avadi, the Army will provide easier access to defence startups and industry to refine and adapt innovations for India’s unique operational environments.”
A Joint Steering Committee comprising representatives from both organisations will oversee project selection and strategic alignment.
