Technology must be owned in India, says Samtel CEO
India cannot become a "Viksit Bharat" unless it develops and owns more of its own technology, Samtel Avionics CEO Puneet Kaura said on Sunday. Speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit 2026, he said the goal must be "not just Make in India, but own in India", citing opportunities in drones, artificial intelligence, space, sensors and autonomous systems. He noted that autopilot systems, navigation systems, gimbals and payloads are still imported.
Source
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Desk check · compared with the source
What the desk checked (4)
- India cannot become a Viksit Bharat without enough owned-in-India IP-wise technologies. — Direct quote attributed to Samtel Avionics CEO Puneet Kaura at the NDTV Defence Summit 2026.
- Samtel supplies products to foreign air forces in Southeast Asia and Africa and is in talks with US customers. — Stated in source without independent documentation; attributed to the company/CEO.
- Autopilot systems, navigation systems, gimbals and payloads used in drones are still imported. — Attributed to Kaura; no supporting data or figures given in source.
- Samtel is working on space debris management with a Japanese partner. — Appears in source; partner company not named.
Analysts’ view opinion
The pitch to move from "Make in India" to "Own in India" is, at its core, an argument about where value sits in the chain — assembly earns thin margins, while design and intellectual property capture the bulk of the value. The CEO's point that autopilots, navigation systems, gimbals and payloads are still imported implies a large share of a drone's price still flows abroad. That means even rising domestic output can leave the import bill, currency exposure and supply-chain dependence largely intact.
- Manufacturing without owning the IP means value keeps leaking out through licence fees, royalties and component imports.
- The observation that real capability is built at tier-one and tier-two vendor level matters economically — that is where skilled jobs and supply-chain depth are actually created, largely in the MSME layer.
- Exports are the real test: supplying air forces in Southeast Asia and Africa and talking to US customers points to a route to scale that does not depend solely on domestic defence procurement.
- But building IP requires heavy, long-gestation R&D spending, and the story does not establish who carries that cost — private capital, guaranteed government orders or subsidy.
- Extending IoT into agriculture, fisheries and railways suggests a dual-use model that spreads defence R&D costs across civilian markets, which can lower unit costs.
What to watch — Watch how fast drone sub-systems — autopilots, navigation, gimbals, payloads — are actually localised, and whether Indian firms' export conversations convert into firm orders.
This is one industry CEO's perspective; the story establishes no figures on import volumes, localisation rates, investment sums or job impact.
Deep dive
Research brief · 8 facts · 2 dates · exam-readyThe brief
Context
India's defence industrialisation push has so far centred on "Make in India" — building equipment domestically, often under licence or with imported sub-systems. At the NDTV Defence Summit 2026, Samtel Avionics CEO Puneet Kaura argued that manufacturing alone is insufficient and that India must own the intellectual property behind critical technologies. Samtel is a defence avionics company now expanding into space technology and drone manufacturing, and already exports to foreign air forces. Kaura's remarks frame indigenisation as an IP-ownership question rather than only an assembly-line question.
Key facts
- Samtel Avionics CEO Puneet Kaura said on Sunday that India cannot become a "Viksit Bharat" without developing and owning more of its own technology.
- Speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit 2026, Kaura said: "We will never be a Viksit Bharat till we actually have enough owned-in-India IP-wise technologies."
- Kaura's formulation: "Not just Make in India, but own in India."
- He identified big opportunities for India in drones, artificial intelligence, space, sensors and autonomous systems.
- Several critical drone sub-systems are still imported, including autopilot systems, navigation systems, gimbals and payloads.
- Kaura said real capability building happens "not at the platform level, but at the level of tier one, tier two vendors".
- Samtel already supplies products to multiple foreign air forces, including in Southeast Asia and Africa, and is in talks with customers in the US.
- Samtel is working on space debris management and has partnered with a Japanese company in that area; it is also exploring IoT for defence, agriculture, fisheries and railways.
Timeline
- September 27, 2026 (NDTV tweet date)NDTV posts Kaura's quote from the summit on the need for owned-in-India IP.
- Sunday (as reported)Puneet Kaura speaks at the NDTV Defence Summit 2026 on owning technology in India.
Who has a stake
- Samtel Avionics — Defence avionics firm expanding into space tech and drones; exporting to foreign air forces and seeking US customers.
- Puneet Kaura, CEO, Samtel Avionics — Advocating a shift from manufacturing-led to IP-ownership-led indigenisation.
- Tier-1 and tier-2 Indian vendors — Kaura says real capability building happens at their level, not at the platform level.
- Indian drone industry — Dependent on imported autopilots, navigation systems, gimbals and payloads; needs a stronger local ecosystem.
- Indian defence customers (armed forces) — Already asking for AI-enabled avionics for faster sensing, detection and threat analysis.
- Foreign air forces in Southeast Asia and Africa, and prospective US buyers — Current and potential markets for Indian-made avionics products.
- Japanese partner company — Collaborating with Samtel on space debris management.
Why it matters
If critical sub-systems such as autopilots, navigation units, gimbals and payloads remain imported, domestic assembly leaves India strategically dependent even as output rises. Kaura's argument reframes self-reliance around intellectual property and component-level vendors, which also determines whether Indian firms can export competitively rather than remain licensed producers. The AI, space and drone segments he names are where that ownership gap will be decided.
UPSC angle
Prelims pointers
- Puneet Kaura is CEO of Samtel Avionics, a defence avionics company expanding into space tech and drone manufacturing.
- Kaura spoke at the NDTV Defence Summit 2026; NDTV posted his quote on September 27, 2026.
- Key imported drone sub-systems named: autopilot systems, navigation systems, gimbals and payloads.
- "Not just Make in India, but own in India" — Kaura's call for domestically owned intellectual property.
- Samtel exports to air forces in Southeast Asia and Africa and is in talks with US customers.
- Samtel has partnered with a Japanese company on space debris management and is exploring IoT for defence, agriculture, fisheries and railways.
Mains framing
India's defence indigenisation debate is shifting from where equipment is made to who owns the underlying technology. Samtel Avionics CEO Puneet Kaura's argument at the NDTV Defence Summit 2026 — that India "will never be a Viksit Bharat" without enough owned-in-India IP — points to a structural gap: platforms may be assembled domestically while autopilot systems, navigation systems, gimbals and payloads for drones are imported. His diagnosis locates the deficit at the tier-1 and tier-2 vendor level rather than at the prime/platform level, implying that component and sub-system capability, not final assembly, is the binding constraint on genuine self-reliance and on export competitiveness. The opportunity areas he flags — drones, artificial intelligence, sensors, space and autonomous systems — are precisely where IP accumulates quickly and where defence customers are already demanding capability, with AI relevant to faster sensing, detection and threat analysis even though Indian AI use in avionics remains at an early stage. The way forward he suggests is collaborative development among Indian companies to build these sub-systems locally, a deeper drone ecosystem, and taking domestically owned technology to global markets — Samtel itself supplies foreign air forces in Southeast Asia and Africa and is in talks in the US.
Key terms
- Viksit Bharat
- The goal of a developed India, which Kaura argues is unattainable without sufficient India-owned technology and IP.
- Avionics
- Electronic systems used in aircraft, including displays, sensors and navigation equipment — Samtel's core business.
- Gimbal
- A stabilised mount that holds a drone's camera or sensor steady; still largely imported into India, per Kaura.
- Payload
- The mission equipment a drone carries, such as cameras or sensors; named as an imported sub-system.
- Tier-1 / tier-2 vendors
- Component and sub-system suppliers below the prime platform maker, where Kaura says real capability building happens.
- Space debris management
- Tracking and mitigating defunct objects in orbit; Samtel is working on this with a Japanese partner.
Practice questions
- "Make in India is necessary but not sufficient for defence self-reliance; ownership of intellectual property is the real test." Critically examine with reference to India's drone and avionics sectors.
- Why does capability building in defence manufacturing depend more on tier-1 and tier-2 vendors than on platform integrators? Discuss the policy implications.
- Assess the role of artificial intelligence, sensors and autonomous systems in future defence capability, and the challenges India faces in developing these indigenously.
Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.