Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today highlighted a major concern on the use Chinese parts in making drones and said there was an urgent need to establish a drone manufacturing ecosystem in India that renders us completely self-reliant.This self-reliance is essential not merely at the product level, but crucially at the component level as well. This implies that everything — from drone moulds to software, engines, and batteries — must be manufactured right here in India, said the minister speaking at the National Defence Industries Conclave 2026.This, he said was no easy task. “In most countries where drones are currently manufactured, a significant number of critical components are imported from China”.For the sake of India’s defence preparedness and strategic autonomy, it is imperative that the nation achieves complete self-reliance in drone manufacturing.Recent conflicts make it abundantly clear that drones and counter-drone technologies are poised to play a pivotal role in future warfare. “Indigenous drone production ecosystem must for strategic autonomy, defence preparedness and self-reliance”, he added.He was addressing MSMEs, start-ups, winners of Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs), private defence companies, innovators, policymakers and academia. The event was organised by the Department of Defence Production on the theme ‘Advanced Manufacturing Technologies’.A new initiative featuring innovation from defence public sector undertaking was also launched by the minister to encourage design-led innovation by MSMEs and start-ups. These innovations projects will be funded by DPSUs, which will also provide mentorship, testing facilities and opportunities for potential integration into their supply chains to the winning start-ups.