ADITI – Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX
The heavyweight iDEX window — grant-in-aid up to ₹25 crore for critical and strategic defence technologies.
What you get
Up to 50% of product development budget, capped at ₹25 crore per project
Nodal ministry
Ministry of Defence
Support type
Grant
Best suited for
Prototype / PoC · Growth / Scaling
Typical timeline
Challenge and hackathon cycles under the iDEX framework
What this scheme actually is
ADITI is the sub-scheme for defence technologies too large and too strategic for a standard iDEX grant — the kind requiring a product development budget of ₹50 crore or beyond. Challenges are organised around earmarked critical technologies, and winners are incubated by iDEX Partner Incubators. This is the largest single grant a defence startup can access in India.
Implementing agency: Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO)
What the scheme sets out to do
Who can apply
What you get
How to apply, step by step
- 1
Confirm you can fund the other half
The grant caps at 50% of the product development budget. A ₹25 crore grant implies a ₹50 crore programme — the co-funding plan is scrutinised, not assumed.
- 2
Watch for ADITI challenges in your technology area
ADITI runs around earmarked critical technologies. The window opens per challenge; there is no general application.
- 3
Build a programme-grade proposal
At this scale, evaluators want a credible engineering programme: work breakdown, risk register, test plan, manufacturing route and team depth — not a startup deck.
- 4
Clear evaluation and contract
Winners are incubated by Partner Incubators and contract with DIO on milestone terms.
- 5
Execute with audit-grade discipline
A ₹25 crore grant carries proportionate audit, reporting and governance obligations across multiple years.
What we actually do on a ADITI mandate
Services this usually needs
No consultant can guarantee a sanction — that decision sits with the evaluating committee, bank or incubator. We commit to an honest eligibility view, an application built to the evaluator’s format, filing inside the window and a documented follow-up cadence. That is stated in every engagement letter we sign.