Indian Defence Technology
Tejas — Light Combat Aircraft
Programme: LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) — India's indigenous multirole fighter Developer: HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bengaluru) + DRDO Engine: General Electric F404 (Mark 1) / F414 (Mark 2 — more powerful)
| Version | Status | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Tejas Mark 1 | In IAF service (2016) | 40 aircraft inducted; basic AESA radar |
| Tejas Mark 1A | 83 ordered (2021) | Advanced AESA radar, aerial refuelling, electronic warfare |
| Tejas Mark 2 | Under development | Bigger, heavier; F414 engine; 2025+ expected |
| TEDBF (Naval) | Development | Twin-engine carrier-based version for INS Vikrant |
Significance: Reduces India's dependence on imported fighters (previously 100% imported); will eventually replace ageing MiG-21s.
Missile Systems (DRDO)
Agni Series — Ballistic Missiles
| Missile | Range | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agni-I | 700 km | Short-range ballistic | Operational |
| Agni-II | 2,000 km | Medium-range ballistic | Operational |
| Agni-III | 3,000 km | Intermediate-range | Operational |
| Agni-IV | 4,000 km | Intermediate-range | Operational |
| Agni-V | 5,000+ km | ICBM-range; MIRV | Operational; MIRV tested March 2024 |
| Agni-VI | 10,000+ km | ICBM (under dev.) | Development |
Agni-V MIRV test (March 11, 2024): Mission Divyastra — India's first test of MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles) — single missile carries multiple warheads that can hit different targets simultaneously. Makes India's deterrent far more credible against missile defence systems.
BrahMos — Cruise Missile
Joint venture: India (DRDO / BAPL — BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd) + Russia (NPO Mashinostroyeniya) Name: Brahmaputra (India) + Moskva (Russia) rivers
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Speed | ~2.8 Mach (supersonic — fastest operational cruise missile) |
| Range | 290–400+ km (extended range version tested) |
| Versions | Land-based, ship-launched, submarine-launched, air-launched (Su-30MKI) |
| Export | Philippines signed deal 2022 — India's first major missile export (₹2,800+ crore) |
BrahMos-NG (Next Generation): Smaller, lighter, air-launched from Tejas; under development.
BrahMos-II: Hypersonic version (planned Mach 7–8); under joint development with Russia.
Pralay — Conventional Ballistic Missile
- Range 150–500 km; quasi-ballistic trajectory (manoeuvres); hard to intercept
- Approved for induction 2022 — for conventional (non-nuclear) deterrence
Prithvi Series
- Short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missiles (150–350 km)
- All three services variants: Prithvi-I (Army), Prithvi-II (Air Force), Dhanush (Navy ship-based)
Air Defence — Akash
Akash: India's indigenously developed medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM)
- Range: 25 km; altitude: up to 18 km
- Exported to: Armenia (2022) — India's first SAM export
- Akash-NG (Next Gen): improved seeker, 30+ km range
Naval Assets
INS Vikrant (IAC-1)
India's first indigenously built aircraft carrier
- Commissioned: September 2, 2022 (by PM Modi, Kochi)
- Built at: Cochin Shipyard Limited (Kerala)
- Displacement: 45,000 tonnes
- Length: 262 metres
- Aircraft: MiG-29K fighters, Kamov-31 helicopters; will eventually operate Tejas TEDBF
- India becomes one of 5 nations that can design and build their own aircraft carrier (USA, UK, France, China, Russia)
INS Arihant — Nuclear Submarine
- India's first indigenously built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN)
- Commissioned 2016; carries K-15 Sagarika nuclear missiles (750 km range)
- INS Arighat: 2nd SSBN, commissioned 2024
- Significance: Completes India's nuclear triad (land + air + sea delivery)
P-75I Submarine Programme
- 6 conventional submarines to be built in India with technology transfer
- German HDW / Spanish Navantia / French Naval Group bidding — selection underway
DRDO — Key Labs
| Lab | Location | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| CVRDE (Combat Vehicles R&D Est.) | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | Arjun MBT, armoured vehicles |
| GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Est.) | Bengaluru | Kaveri jet engine (for Tejas) |
| DRDL (Defence R&D Lab) | Hyderabad | BrahMos, Agni missiles |
| ARDE (Armament Research) | Pune | Artillery, ammunition |
| NPOL (Naval Physical & Oceanographic Lab) | Kochi | Sonar, underwater systems |
CVRDE is in Chennai — important Tamil Nadu fact for Group I.
Biotechnology
COVID-19 Vaccines — India's Contribution
| Vaccine | Developer | Type | Key Fact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covaxin (BBV152) | Bharat Biotech + ICMR | Whole-virion inactivated | India's first indigenous COVID vaccine; WHO EUL granted |
| Covishield | Serum Institute of India (Oxford-AZ) | Viral vector (ChAdOx1) | World's largest vaccine manufacturer produced this |
| ZyCov-D | Zydus Cadila | DNA plasmid | World's first DNA vaccine for humans |
| CORBEVAX | Bharat Biotech + Texas Children's Hospital | Protein subunit | Patent-free; donated globally |
| Covovax | Serum Institute of India (Novavax) | Protein nanoparticle | Protein subunit type |
Serum Institute of India (Pune): World's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume — produces 1.5 billion doses/year of multiple vaccines (not just COVID).
Genome India Project
Launched: 2020 Funded by: Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Goal: Sequence 10,000 whole genomes of Indians representing all major population groups Lead institution: C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) and partner institutions
Purpose:
- Understand genetic diversity of India's 1.4 billion people
- Identify disease susceptibilities specific to Indian populations
- Enable personalised medicine
CRISPR and Gene Editing
CRISPR-Cas9: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats — revolutionary gene editing tool Nobel Prize 2020: Jennifer Doudna + Emmanuelle Charpentier
India's CRISPR applications:
- SHERLOCK/DETECTR diagnostic platforms: CRISPR-based rapid disease detection (TB, COVID, malaria)
- FelCure: CRISPR-based beta thalassemia research (IIT Bombay)
- Agriculture: CRISPR-edited crops for disease resistance (ICAR research)
- Regulatory framework: India's New Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act being amended for genome-edited crops
National Biopharma Mission
- ₹1,500 crore; 50% World Bank funded
- Develop biopharmaceutical capacity in India
- Vaccine development, diagnostics, biotherapeutics
Information Technology
5G in India
Launched: October 1, 2022 (India Mobile Congress, Delhi) Operators: Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel (first); BSNL (government, 5G network build-out in progress) Coverage (2024): 700+ cities
5G Spectrum Auction 2022:
- Total bids: ₹1.50 lakh crore (record)
- Jio: largest buyer
- Bands: 700 MHz (deep indoor, rural), 3.5 GHz (capacity), 26 GHz (millimetre wave, ultra-high speed)
India-specific 5G stack: TSDSI (Telecom Standards Development Society of India) has developed India-specific 5G standard (IMT-2020) for rural use cases (lower power, different frequencies).
Artificial Intelligence — India
National Strategy for AI (NITI Aayog, 2018): 5 focus sectors — healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities, smart mobility.
IndiaAI Mission (2024):
- Budget: ₹10,372 crore
- Key components: 10,000 GPU compute cluster (sovereign AI infrastructure), AI startup ecosystem (AI4START), AI skills programme (FutureSkills PRIME), responsible AI governance framework
Key Indian AI developments:
- Krutrim (Ola): India's first AI unicorn (2024); multilingual large language model for Indian languages
- AI4Bharat (IIT Madras): Open-source multilingual NLP — speech recognition, translation, text-to-speech for 22+ Indian languages including Tamil
- BharatGPT: Consortium of IITs building India's own LLM
- PARAM supercomputers: National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) — PARAM Siddhi (IIT Hyderabad), PARAM Ananta (IIT Gandhinagar) — AI research infrastructure
Semiconductor Policy
India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), 2021: ₹76,000 crore incentive package
Approved projects (2024):
| Company | Location | Investment | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tata Electronics + PSMC (Taiwan) | Dholera, Gujarat | ₹91,000 crore | India's first semiconductor fab (28nm) |
| CG Power + Renesas + Stars | Sanand, Gujarat | ₹7,600 crore | ATMP facility |
| Micron Technology (USA) | Sanand, Gujarat | $825 million | Semiconductor packaging |
| Tata Semiconductor | Morigaon, Assam | ₹27,000 crore | ATMP facility |
Strategic context: India is 100% import-dependent for chips; the 2021 global chip shortage cost India $10+ billion in auto production losses. Domestic production target: 2025–26 for first fab.
Cybersecurity
CERT-In (Computer Emergency Response Team — India): Under MeitY; handles cyber incident reporting and response. Key 2022 directive: All organisations must report cyber incidents to CERT-In within 6 hours — controversial for its expansive scope.
National Cyber Security Policy (2013): Under revision; new policy expected.
Personal Data Protection:
- DPDP Act 2023 (Digital Personal Data Protection Act): India's first comprehensive data protection law; modelled partly on GDPR; Data Protection Board to adjudicate violations; came into force August 2023.
Space Technology (Recent, Beyond ISRO Basics)
OneWeb / Eutelsat + India
- India invested in OneWeb (LEO broadband satellite constellation) — Bharti Enterprises
- Provides broadband connectivity for remote areas — complements BharatNet
IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre)
Established: 2020 Purpose: Enable private sector in India's space activities — launch services, satellites, applications Impact: India opened its space sector to private companies (Agnikul Cosmos, Skyroot Aerospace, Pixxel)
Private space launches:
- Skyroot Aerospace (Vikram-S): India's first privately developed rocket; successfully launched November 18, 2022 (ISRO SDSC Sriharikota)
- Agnikul Cosmos (Agnibaan SOrTeD): First semi-cryogenic privately built rocket; launched May 2024
Shukrayaan-I (Venus Mission)
- India's planned Venus orbiter mission — launch window 2028
- Will study Venus atmosphere and surface
Key Science & Technology Institutions
| Institution | Location | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| IIT Madras | Chennai, TN | AI4Bharat, ocean research, space tech; largest research park in India |
| CSIR-CECRI | Karaikudi, TN | Electrochemical Research — batteries, sensors |
| CSIR-CLRI | Chennai, TN | Central Leather Research Institute |
| CVRDE | Chennai (Avadi), TN | Combat vehicle development (Arjun tank) |
| NIOT | Chennai, TN | National Institute of Ocean Technology — deep-sea mining |
| CECRI | Karaikudi, TN | Battery R&D, fuel cells |
| NIT Tiruchirappalli | Trichy, TN | Engineering research |
| Anna University | Chennai, TN | Technical education + research; affiliates 500+ engineering colleges |
Tamil Nadu S&T significance:
- IIT Madras consistently ranked India's #1 engineering institution (NIRF rankings)
- ISRO's VSSC tracking station at Sriharikota (nearby Tamil Nadu border)
- CVRDE (Avadi, Chennai): designs India's main battle tank — critical defence lab in Tamil Nadu
Board Exam Tips
- Tejas Mark 1A: 83 ordered; AESA radar; HAL Bengaluru.
- Agni-V: 5,000+ km; MIRV tested March 2024 (Mission Divyastra).
- BrahMos: joint India-Russia; 2.8 Mach; Philippines export 2022.
- INS Vikrant: India's first indigenous aircraft carrier; commissioned September 2, 2022; Cochin Shipyard.
- INS Arihant: India's first nuclear submarine (SSBN); completes nuclear triad.
- Covaxin: Bharat Biotech + ICMR; first indigenous COVID vaccine.
- Serum Institute (Pune): world's largest vaccine manufacturer.
- CRISPR Nobel 2020: Doudna + Charpentier.
- 5G India: launched October 1, 2022; 700+ cities (2024).
- India Semiconductor Mission: ₹76,000 crore; Tata + PSMC first fab at Dholera (Gujarat).
- DPDP Act 2023: India's first data protection law.
- IIT Madras: #1 NIRF; AI4Bharat; largest research park.
- CVRDE (Chennai/Avadi): Arjun MBT designer — Tamil Nadu's defence lab.