Showcasing soldier-driven innovation and indigenous problem-solving, the Indian Army on Friday held its annual Idea & Innovation Competition and Seminar, Inno-Yoddha 2025 at the Manekshaw Centre in the national capital.

Conducted in the presence of Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS) Lt. Gen. Pushpendra Pal Singh, the flagship event highlighted a record 89 in-house innovations, of which 32 cutting-edge solutions were selected to strengthen the Army’s combat, logistics and training capabilities.

The event saw a record 89 innovations submitted from across various arms and services. After rigorous evaluation, 32 innovations were selected for further development and were felicitated by the VCOAS. These innovations will now be refined, upscaled and prepared for field deployment by the Indian Army. Relevant IPRs will be filed and upon successful ruggedisation, technologies may be transferred to industry for mass production, thereby strengthening the Indian Army’s commitment to Atmanirbhar Bharat and the growth of an indigenous design, development and manufacturing ecosystem.

Vice army chief Lt. Gen. Singh interacted with the innovators and commended the soldier-driven nature of their contributions. He observed that soldiers on the ground understand battlefield challenges better than anyone else, and these innovations reflect their unparalleled field experience, technical proficiency and imaginative problem-solving.

Operating in some of the world’s most challenging and diverse environments, marked by extreme weather, demanding terrain and evolving adversarial threats, the Indian Army seeks insight, adaptability and creativity of its personnel. The competition celebrates this culture of innovation, acknowledging that the most effective solutions often emerge from troops directly engaged in operations.

Over the last five years, the Indian Army’s innovation ecosystem has delivered substantial and measurable outcomes, reflecting a growing culture of soldier-driven technological problem-solving. A total of 117 ideas and innovations have been selected during this period, of which 47 have already been successfully productised, while nine more are currently undergoing prototype evaluation. The Army has also filed 30 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), underscoring the institutional push towards protecting indigenous innovation.

In a significant step towards industry integration, five innovations have been transferred to industry under the Transfer of Technology (ToT) framework. These include the Exploder developed with FC Tech, Agniastra by Red Kite Digital Tech, Vidyut Rakshak with IS Trading Company, Baaz Attack Drone, and the Multi-purpose Octacopter. Notably, two of these technologies were formally handed over to industry on December 5, marking another milestone in the Army’s journey towards operational self-reliance and indigenous capability development.