In a major step towards strengthening India’s self-reliance in defence manufacturing, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) to establish a cutting-edge testing facility focused on the Mechanical & Material domain. The facility will come up in the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC) at Tiruchirappalli under the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS).
The MoU was signed in the presence of Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production), MoD, and marks a significant milestone in India’s ongoing efforts to enhance indigenous capabilities in the defence sector. Senior officials from MoD and TIDCO exchanged the agreement in New Delhi. Under the DTIS framework, the Government of India will provide up to 75% of the project cost as Grant-in-Aid, while the remaining 25% will be funded by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) led by Micro Labs. The SPV consortium includes prominent players such as Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Vaidheswaran Industries, and TIDCO.
This collaborative facility aims to serve both public and private sector stakeholders by offering high-end testing equipment and services in mechanical and materials science, an area critical to defence hardware development. It is expected to significantly reduce reliance on foreign testing infrastructure, thereby bolstering the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
The Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme, with a total outlay of ₹400 crore, was launched by Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh to develop world-class defence testing facilities in India. Designed to boost indigenous manufacturing and reduce imports, DTIS has so far approved seven testing facilities, four in Tamil Nadu and three in Uttar Pradesh, across the two designated Defence Industrial Corridors.
Once operational, the Tiruchirappalli testing centre will be a strategic asset for India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem, offering the infrastructure necessary to fast-track innovation, ensure quality standards, and accelerate time-to-market for new defence technologies.
TIDCO, the nodal agency for industrial development in Tamil Nadu, plays a key role in promoting defence and aerospace investments in the state. The Ministry of Defence, through initiatives like DTIS, continues to strengthen India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem by fostering public-private partnerships and enabling world-class infrastructure for indigenous production.
