How the iDEX challenge works, and what a defence grant win pays
The Ministry of Defence's innovation grant for startups, MSMEs and individual innovators, won one challenge at a time.
Summary
- iDEX is a Ministry of Defence grant programme run by the Defence Innovation Organisation. It pays up to ₹1.5 crore through SPARK, or up to ₹25 crore through ADITI.
- The grant covers at most half of the project. You fund the rest, and DIO takes no equity in your company.
- You cannot apply whenever you like. You answer a challenge while it is open, and on 19 October 2026 every iDEX call was closed.
Founders ask us how to apply for iDEX the way they ask about a loan scheme, as if a form sat open all year. There is no such form. iDEX money is won in a challenge round, against a problem statement or a theme, and a selection committee picks the winners.
iDEX, short for Innovations for Defence Excellence, is a Ministry of Defence framework the Prime Minister launched at DefExpo in April 2018. The Defence Innovation Organisation runs it under the Department of Defence Production. DIO is a not-for-profit Section 8 company set up by two defence PSUs, HAL and BEL. Our grants and schemes register covers the other central schemes we track.
What an iDEX challenge win pays, and on what terms
Nobody applies to iDEX itself. A company applies to one of two grant routes, each run through challenges on idex.gov.in. Both pay grant-in-aid, which you do not repay, and in both the winner funds at least half of the project.
The two iDEX grant routes a company can apply to
| Term | SPARK grant | ADITI grant |
|---|---|---|
| How you enter | A DISC edition or the Open Challenge | An ADITI challenge edition |
| Grant ceiling | Up to ₹1.5 crore per project | Up to ₹25 crore per winner |
| Share of the project the grant can cover | At most half | Up to 50% of the product development budget |
| Project size the scheme has in mind | About ₹3 crore | About ₹50 crore or more at the full grant |
| Typical development period | Up to 24 months | Up to 36 months |
| What it is for | Prototypes and defence products | Critical and strategic technologies new to India |
SPARK stands for Support for Prototype and Research Kickstart in Defence. The selection committee fixes each grant against your product development budget, so ₹1.5 crore is the most it will normally award. The 2021 scheme and the SPARK framework let the committee go above that limit in special cases, decided case by case.
ADITI, Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX, was launched on 4 March 2024 for technologies India does not yet have. Its scheme document plans for about 30, among them satellite communication, advanced cyber, semiconductors, AI, quantum and underwater surveillance. Each ADITI challenge can fund up to two winners.
The half you fund is what most founders miss. iDEX pays at most half of the project, and without your half there is no grant. The FAQ sets this matching contribution at 50% of total project cost or more, and calls it a mandatory prerequisite for the grant. ADITI's scheme says the same of its budget, so a winner chasing the full ₹25 crore must find ₹25 crore or more itself.
iDEX pays at most half of the project, and without your half there is no grant.
The contribution can be cash, money already spent on the project, or in-kind support such as lab use under a formal agreement. Founder-owned IP valued by a registered valuer can count, up to 20% of the matching contribution or ₹25 lakh, whichever is lower.
Under the SPARK Grant Agreement the money comes in six tranches: 10% at Milestone 0, 20% at each of the next four, and a final 10% at Milestone 5. It runs through an exclusive iDEX bank account. DIO takes no , and the IP stays with you, subject to the agreement.
Which iDEX challenge route fits your project?
Three kinds of call carry iDEX grant money today.
- DISC, the Defence India Startup Challenge. Editions draw problem statements from the Services, the Coast Guard, the Defence Space Agency and defence PSUs. DISC 14 carried 82 of them in 2026, and winners receive the SPARK grant.
- The iDEX Open Challenge. You bring your own idea within defence and aerospace themes, such as autonomous systems, AI or quantum. It pays the same SPARK grant of up to ₹1.5 crore.
- ADITI challenges. Each edition lists problem statements on critical and strategic technologies. ADITI 4 carried 25, from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Defence Space Agency.
An Open Challenge project cannot move across to ADITI later, even if its budget grows. For a larger budget the FAQ points to the Make category of defence procurement instead.
iDEX Prime, introduced in 2022 with grants of up to ₹10 crore, is no longer a separate route. ADITI took over Prime challenges launched after its approval, and the last Prime re-open closed on 9 March 2026. The government's June 2026 startup playbook still quotes iDEX grants of ₹1.5 crore to ₹10 crore, and the upper figure is Prime's.
Two other names turn up in searches. iDEX4Fauji, for serving Armed Forces personnel, last closed on 20 December 2023. The DRISHTI challenges launched in March 2026 are managed and funded by the defence PSUs themselves, outside DIO's grant.
How to read an iDEX challenge problem statement
Every DISC and ADITI problem statement belongs to a Nodal Agency, usually the Service or organisation that wrote it. That agency shortlists the applications, and DIO does not. Write for the people who own the problem, because they decide whether you ever reach the committee.
The SPARK framework screens on two questions. Can your proposed prototype meet an existing Indian defence need? Can an existing technology or patent of yours be deployed to meet one? A civilian market for the product is an optional extra that the framework also weighs.
DISC 14 and ADITI 4 also set a deadline for technical queries, 21 April 2026, about two weeks before applications closed. A question to the problem owner costs nothing, and a misread specification can cost the whole application.
Who can enter an iDEX challenge, and who cannot
Three kinds of applicant qualify, for both routes.
- A startup recognised by DPIIT.
- An Indian company incorporated under the Companies Act, primarily an MSME as the MSMED Act 2006 defines one.
- An individual innovator. Research and academic institutions can apply through this category too.
Every applicant needs a majority Indian stake. Turnover limits follow the DPIIT and MSME definitions, and an MSME whose main business is civilian can still apply.
An individual can apply without a company. If you win, you must incorporate under company law and register as a startup or MSME before you sign. The majority-Indian test then applies to that new company.
Some applicants are shut out or capped. Joint ventures and consortia cannot apply. A startup or MSME can hold five active DIO contracts at most. It can sign a fourth or fifth only after two of its first three projects clear Milestone 3. ADITI adds a limit of one ADITI challenge at a time.
How an iDEX grant application moves from portal to agreement
- Register on idex.gov.in. Apply online against an open challenge, as many times as you like.
- Complete the form. It asks for a single point of contact, ideally the founder or CEO, then entity details, which individuals skip, then the proposal.
- Make the proposal whole. Name the problem statement and the funding sought. Add the technical and financial case, a project report, any patents or papers, and a tentative business plan.
- Clear the hygiene check and the shortlist. iDEX screens each application, then the Nodal Agency shortlists in about one to two months. The Open Challenge takes longer.
- Present to the selection committee. The High-Powered Selection Committee of defence, technology and innovation experts picks winners and fixes each grant. It weighs team size and composition.
- Sign the grant agreement with DIO. It sets the terms of your matching contribution, so read them before you sign.
- Build to milestones. A partner incubator monitors the work for DIO. By Milestone 5 the Service headquarters must certify the product at TRL 8.
No minimum technology readiness level is needed to apply, but the finish line is high. Our guide to technology readiness levels explains what TRL 8 asks of a product. Rejected applicants get no feedback, so do not count on learning from a first attempt.
Our walk through the government grant application process covers the stages most central schemes share. The eligibility slips we see most often are in why government grant applications fail.
What an iDEX grant costs you after you win
Your half of the project comes first, because there is no grant without it. The grant pays for research and development, prototyping, pilot work and market assessment. It will not pay for cost overruns, which you carry. Land, buildings, new R&D centres, investments and loan interest are excluded too.
Time is the other cost. SPARK projects typically run up to 24 months and ADITI projects up to 36, with a partner incubator watching each milestone. What a government grant costs you sets obligations like these against other schemes.
Is an iDEX challenge open in October 2026?
No. On 19 October 2026 the iDEX challenges page marked every call closed. The notices page carried no new edition, re-open or deadline extension.
- The Open Challenge round closed on 30 September 2026 at 11:59 pm. The cut-off before it was 30 November 2025.
- A re-open of one DISC 12 problem statement closed on 15 July 2026.
- DISC 14 and ADITI 4 were launched on 19 March 2026 and closed on 4 May 2026 at 5 pm.
The FAQ says DISC and ADITI editions generally come twice a year. It calls the Open Challenge rolling, with applications pulled every three months. On that pattern another Open Challenge round and a DISC 15 would follow, but no date was published as of 19 October 2026.
Neither DISC nor ADITI has kept that rhythm lately. DISC 13 and ADITI 3 both closed on 3 December 2024, and the next editions came 15 months later. In between, ADITI 2 was re-opened to 15 April 2025 and again to 30 October 2025.
The money behind both routes was approved for periods ending in 2025-26. That was ₹498.78 crore for the Scheme for iDEX from 2021-22, and ₹750 crore for ADITI from 2023-24. The Ministry of Defence's 2026-27 budget notes still list grant-in-aid for both, without a separate figure. We found no published approval of a funding period beyond 2025-26.
Watch idex.gov.in/challenges, and get your entity papers and matching funds ready before the next call.
What an iDEX win leads to after the grant
Winning a challenge makes you an iDEX winner, and that status is the gate to a separate scheme. The SIDBI iDEX Seed Fund invests ₹10 lakh to ₹1.5 crore of equity or equity-like money through incubators such as SINE at IIT Bombay. Only iDEX winners can ask for it, and SIDBI runs it, not DIO.
The two work in sequence. The grant pays for up to half a development project without touching your , and the seed fund then puts an institutional investor on it. Our guide to the SIDBI iDEX seed fund covers its own conditions and calls.
Winners can also meet private investors through the iDEX Investor Hub, which is not government money. The Nodal Agency may then buy the product under the Defence Acquisition Procedure, though DIO promises no order quantity.
PIB's figures as of February 2026 show the shape of that route. About 676 startups, MSMEs and individual innovators had joined iDEX, 548 contracts were signed and 566 challenges launched. Of those, 58 prototypes had procurement clearance worth about ₹3,853 crore, and 45 procurement contracts worth about ₹2,326 crore were signed.
On our arithmetic, about one signed contract in ten had reached procurement clearance. Build the company's plan on the grant and your own revenue, and treat a defence order as upside.
When iDEX fits, and when TDF or another scheme fits better
iDEX suits a startup or MSME with a defence or dual-use technology that matches a listed problem, or that it can pitch through the Open Challenge. You need to fund half the project, and you keep the IP. It also suits an individual innovator ready to incorporate on winning.
DRDO's Technology Development Fund is another defence grant. DRDO lists its own requirements and you bid against one. Under its guidelines DRDO generally pays up to 90% of a project costing up to ₹10 crore, and up to 70% of one costing up to ₹50 crore. DRDO jointly owns the IP that results.
If you cannot fund half a project, TDF may fit better. If keeping your IP matters more, iDEX leaves it with you, subject to its agreement. For a project far beyond ₹3 crore, look at ADITI or the Make category of defence procurement before the Open Challenge.
Frequently asked questions
Is an iDEX grant a loan, or does DIO take equity?
Neither. It is non-repayable grant-in-aid, released against milestones. The FAQ says DIO takes no equity or ownership in your company, and the IP remains with the winner under the agreement.
What is the difference between the iDEX SPARK grant and iDEX Prime?
SPARK is the grant of up to ₹1.5 crore that DISC and Open Challenge winners receive. Prime offered up to ₹10 crore from 2022 and has since been folded into ADITI, which pays up to ₹25 crore. The last Prime re-open closed on 9 March 2026.
Where are iDEX challenge problem statements published?
On idex.gov.in/challenges, edition by edition. Each DISC or ADITI page lists its problem statements and the agency behind each one. Closed editions stay on the page, so check the status and the last date before you start writing.
Can I apply to an iDEX challenge without a company?
Yes, as an individual innovator. If you are selected, you must register a company and register it as a startup or MSME before signing the grant agreement. That company then needs a majority Indian stake.
General guidance, current as at 19 October 2026. Ceilings, rules and call dates change, and each challenge's own documents govern it, so check idex.gov.in before you apply. If you would like a problem statement or your matching plan read with you, our capital grants practice is CS Manavi Arora's desk.
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