Adani Defence & Aerospace, the defence and aerospace arm of Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) , broke ground on 5 July 2026 for a ₹2,500 crore integrated missile manufacturing complex in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. The facility, coming up on 103 acres near Pali village in the Kolaras area, is being billed as South Asia’s largest private-sector missile ecosystem. For the first time in India’s private sector, the complex will bring together the entire missile value chain from raw material processing to mission-ready medium- and long-range missile systems under a single roof.
What the Shivpuri Facility Will House
The Shivpuri complex is designed as three linked facilities operating in concert: a missile integration complex, a composite propellant manufacturing unit, and a Trinitrotoluene (TNT) production plant. This combination is what makes the project historically significant for India’s private defence sector.
Composite propellants are the solid fuel that powers modern missile systems. Unlike traditional propellants, composite propellants offer higher energy output, better control over burn rate, and greater safety in handling and storage. By manufacturing these in-house, Adani Defence eliminates a critical import dependency.
TNT, or Trinitrotoluene, is the high-explosive compound used in missile warheads and a wide range of munitions. Until now, private-sector TNT manufacturing in India has been extremely limited. SBL Energy operates a 3,000 tonnes per annum TNT plant in Nagpur, but the Shivpuri complex will mark the first time a private Indian company produces both composite propellants and TNT at the same location for integrated missile production.
The facility will combine advanced manufacturing technologies with automated production systems and globally benchmarked safety standards to support multiple missile programmes at the same time. The project is expected to be fully operational within three years and will create around 5,000 direct and indirect skilled jobs. More than 50 MSMEs will be integrated into the specialised defence supply chain that the complex will anchor.
Why Backward Integration Matters
What makes the Shivpuri project different from typical assembly-line defence factories is its emphasis on backward integration. Most defence manufacturing facilities in India, even in the public sector, rely on imported critical materials and sub-components. The Shivpuri complex aims to close this gap by bringing the production of strategic inputs directly under the same management.
In missile manufacturing, the supply chain for propellants and explosives has long been a bottleneck. India’s public sector ordnance factories have historically handled TNT and propellant production, but capacity constraints and technology gaps have limited the scale of indigenous output. The Defence Ministry’s decision to open tactical missile production to private firms, formalised in June 2026 through the end of Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) s monopoly, has created the policy space for companies like Adani to invest in these capital-intensive capabilities.
The location itself was chosen for strategic logistics. The site sits at the junction of National Highway 27 and the Mumbai-Gwalior Highway, and is served by a railway line, enabling efficient transport of heavy machinery, raw materials, and finished missile systems by both road and rail.
Adani’s Growing Defence Footprint in Madhya Pradesh
The Shivpuri project is not Adani Defence’s first foray into Madhya Pradesh. The company already operates a fully integrated small arms manufacturing complex in Gwalior, established in 2020, which produces pistols, carbines, assault rifles, and light machine guns for the Indian Armed Forces. From this facility, Adani has already delivered 2,000 units of the indigenously manufactured Prahar Light Machine Gun (LMG) to the armed forces, completing the order 11 months ahead of schedule.
Together, the Gwalior and Shivpuri facilities are creating what officials describe as a defence manufacturing cluster in the Gwalior-Chambal region. The Gwalior complex already supports more than 25 local MSMEs, and the Shivpuri expansion is expected to significantly widen that network.
This is part of a broader commitment by the Adani Group to Madhya Pradesh. At the Global Investors Summit in Bhopal last year, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani announced investments worth ₹1.10 lakh crore across the state, spanning hydro pumped storage, cement, mining, smart meters, and thermal energy. These investments are expected to generate 1.2 lakh jobs by 2030.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, Union Communications Minister and Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, state Energy Minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar, and senior Adani Group executives including Karan Adani and Jeet Adani.
DRDO’s Next-Generation Missiles Moving to Production
The Shivpuri complex is being set up at a time when several missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are transitioning from successful trials to serial production. Adani Defence has been onboarded as a Development-cum-Production Partner (DCPP) for multiple DRDO programmes, and the Shivpuri facility will serve as the primary manufacturing hub for several of these systems.
| Missile System | Type | Key Details |
|---|---|---|
| NGARM (Rudram-I) | Next Generation Anti-Radiation Missile | Air-launched, homes in on enemy radar emissions; first indigenous ARM for IAF |
| RUDRAM-II | Anti-Radiation Missile | Range of 300 km; solid-propelled; tested from Su-30MKI in June 2026; IIR seeker for enhanced precision |
| NASM-SR | Naval Anti-Ship Missile (Short Range) | India’s first indigenous air-launched anti-ship missile; fire-and-forget capability for Indian Navy |
| LRGB ‘Gaurav’ | Long-Range Glide Bomb | Precision-guided glide bomb for stand-off strikes from fighter aircraft |
| TARA | Tactical Autonomous Reconnaissance and Attack | Unmanned system combining surveillance with strike capability |
The RUDRAM-II missile is particularly significant for India’s air combat capabilities. Designed to destroy enemy radar and communication systems, it can be launched from a range of altitudes and features Lock-On-Before-Launch and Lock-On-After-Launch modes. It will eventually replace the Russian-origin Kh-31 anti-radiation missiles in the Indian Air Force’s inventory. DRDO successfully flight-tested Rudram-II from a Su-30MKI platform off the coast of Odisha on 2 June 2026, validating all subsystems under extreme release conditions.
India’s Push for Private Sector in Defence Manufacturing
The Shivpuri project must be viewed against the backdrop of a fundamental shift in India’s defence procurement and manufacturing policy. For decades, defence production in India was dominated by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board units. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) , a DPSU established in 1970 and headquartered in Hyderabad, was the sole production agency for indigenous missile systems.
This began to change with the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative in defence, which set import embargo timelines, increased the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in defence to 74% through the automatic route, and actively sought to bring private industry into the defence manufacturing ecosystem. In June 2026, the Defence Ministry formally ended BDL’s monopoly and onboarded at least four private firms as Development-cum-Production Partners for 10 to 12 tactical missile development projects from the DRDO stable.
Adani Defence has been at the forefront of this transition. Its existing manufacturing footprint spans:
| Facility | Location | Focus Area |
|---|---|---|
| Kanpur Complex | Uttar Pradesh | South Asia’s largest integrated ammunition facility (500 acres); small, medium, and large-calibre ammunition |
| Hyderabad Aerospace Park | Telangana | India’s first private UAV final assembly line; surface-to-air missile complex |
| Gwalior Complex | Madhya Pradesh | Small arms manufacturing (pistols, LMGs, assault rifles) |
| Shivpuri Complex | Madhya Pradesh | Integrated missile ecosystem (under construction) |
Beyond manufacturing, Adani Defence has also established a defence R&D centre in Delhi focused on artillery systems, unmanned platforms, and missile technologies. The company has expanded into aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and flight training through acquisitions of Air Works, Indamer Technics, and Flight Simulation Technique Centre (FSTC) .
The company’s munitions, including the Arka MANPADS, SkyStriker and Agnikaa loitering munitions, and the Drishti-10 UAV, were deployed during recent operations, demonstrating the operational readiness of its product lines.
Key Takeaways
- Adani Defence & Aerospace broke ground on 5 July 2026 for a ₹2,500 crore integrated missile complex in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, described as South Asia’s largest private-sector missile ecosystem.
- The facility is the first private-sector complex in India to integrate composite propellant production, TNT manufacturing, and missile system integration at a single location, covering the entire value chain from raw materials to mission-ready missiles.
- The project will create 5,000 direct and indirect jobs and support more than 50 MSMEs in the defence supply chain. It is expected to be operational within three years.
- The complex will manufacture medium- and long-range missile systems, including DRDO-developed platforms such as NGARM (Rudram-I) , RUDRAM-II, NASM-SR, LRGB ‘Gaurav’, and the TARA system.
- Adani Defence was onboarded as a Development-cum-Production Partner (DCPP) for DRDO’s missile programmes, following the Defence Ministry’s decision in June 2026 to end Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) s monopoly on tactical missile production.
- The Shivpuri facility complements Adani’s existing Gwalior small arms complex (which delivered 2,000 Prahar LMGs to the armed forces 11 months ahead of schedule), forming a defence manufacturing cluster in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
