BITS Pilani and the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune, have signed and exchanged 20 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with defence and aerospace companies as part of an initiative to accelerate indigenous technology development and deployment.
The MoUs were signed at the Defence & Aerospace Industry Day 2026 held at the BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus under the theme “Bridging Academia and Industry for Mission-Ready Defence and Aerospace Innovation”.
The event brought together senior representatives from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), government institutions, strategic-sector organisations, defence and aerospace companies, researchers and technology innovators.
Around 200 industry representatives from 45 leading companies and defence organisations participated in the event.
Focus on technology translation
Former DRDO Chairman and National Security Advisory Board member Dr G. Satheesh Reddy said BITS Pilani and DIAT could emerge as important technology partners in translational research, complementing the objectives of Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat in defence and aerospace.
He called for a strong academia-industry partnership and a technology roadmap leading towards Viksit Bharat. He also urged the institutions to work closely with industry to identify and pursue areas of mutually convergent research.
BITS Pilani Vice Chancellor Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao stressed the need to bring researchers, technology developers and industry together to convert research and innovation into deployable national capabilities.
DIAT Pune Vice Chancellor Prof. B. H. V. S. Narayana Murthy highlighted the importance of convergence among DRDO, industry and academia in developing agile and mission-ready capabilities amid emerging and asymmetric warfare.
DRDO DG, Micro Electronic Devices & Computational Systems, Dr. Jagannath Nayak called for greater industry participation from the early stages of research and development, including in strategic areas such as missile systems.
20 industry partnerships
The 20 MoUs cover a range of defence, aerospace, electronics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and strategic technology areas. The industry partners include L&T PES, Paras Defence, Bharat Forge, VEM Technologies, Ananth Technology, Zen Technologies, Digantara Technologies, ICOMM Telecom, Axiscades Technologies, Paradigm IT Cybersecurity, SMPP, Centum Electronics, Skyroot Aerospace, Azistha Industries, Varsity Industries, Ebertech Engineering, Indowings, Ethos Automation, Abyom Aerospace and Sigma Aerospace.
The agreements provide a framework for collaborative R&D, technology development, technology transfer and joint commercialisation.
The objective is to create pathways for technologies developed through academic and institutional research to move towards industrial adoption and deployment.
48 indigenous technologies showcased
BITS Pilani and DIAT jointly showcased 48 indigenous technology capabilities at the event.
The technologies covered areas including advanced materials, electronics, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, sensors and aerospace engineering.
The showcase provided an opportunity for industry representatives, researchers, students and other stakeholders to examine technologies with potential for further development, industrial adoption and scaling.
Open House focuses on implementation
An Open House strategic discussion chaired by Dr G. Satheesh Reddy and Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao focused on translating the MoUs into measurable outcomes.
The leadership emphasised that the agreements should be followed by regular and time-bound engagement with industry partners so that they lead to actionable R&D projects and technology outcomes.
The discussions also proposed regular physical or video-conference interactions between the participating institutions and companies. Existing BITS Pilani mechanisms such as the Practice School and Work Integrated Learning Programme (WILP) could also be extended to industry partners for skill development and project activities.
Another key recommendation was the establishment of dedicated collaborative research laboratories on campus, jointly supported by government agencies, industry and academic institutions.
These laboratories could provide a sustained platform for mission-oriented research, prototyping, validation and technology development.
Building a self-reliant defence ecosystem
The Industry Day brought together representatives from DRDO, the Department of Space, Department of Atomic Energy, Kalyani Group, Paras Defence, MIDHANI, BEL, Nuclear Fuel Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd Complex and HAL, among other organisations.
Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd Chairman Rajinder Singh Bhatia highlighted the importance of an innovation-oriented culture that encourages experimentation, risk-taking and learning from failure in deep-tech development.
Paras Defence MD Munjal Sharad Shah stressed the importance of industry-academia collaboration in developing emerging technologies that meet global benchmarks.
The event also featured discussions on DRDO’s industry and academia engagement schemes, emerging space technologies and Telangana’s efforts to build a defence and aerospace innovation ecosystem.
The Defence & Aerospace Industry Day 2026 concluded with a commitment to strengthen the pipeline from research to technology, technology to capability and capability to mission-ready deployment.
The initiative seeks to build a sustained academia-industry-government ecosystem to accelerate indigenous innovation and support a technologically advanced and self-reliant defence and aerospace sector.