MAKE-II procurement

MAKE-II is one of three procurement sub-categories under the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) — alongside MAKE-I (government-funded design and development) and MAKE-III (Indian manufacturing of foreign-design systems with technology transfer). The defining feature of MAKE-II is that prototyping costs are borne by the bidding company, and the Ministry of Defence assures a procurement order on successful demonstration against agreed parameters.

MAKE-II is the procurement track that converts iDEX-stage prototypes into multi-crore production orders. For a defence-tech startup, the trajectory typically reads: iDEX grant (problem statement + Service partner + ₹1.5–25 crore prototype funding) → demonstration → MAKE-II procurement bid → MAKE-II order. The order is, by an order of magnitude, the company-making event.

For indigenous combat simulators specifically, MAKE-II is the most realistic procurement track for a startup that has validated its product against an iDEX problem statement. The structural fit is strong: simulator infrastructure is exactly the kind of capability where industry-funded development with assured procurement makes economic sense for both sides.