The progress feed

What moved

Every dated status change and builder update, newest first. Progress is the plot.

2026-07-15 Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC)No capability · No Indian company has been identified manufacturing MLCCs domestically at commercial scale; India's ECMS scheme (2025) lists capacitors among components it aims to eventually localize, but approved projects so far cover PCBs, Li-ion cells, connectors and camera/display modules, not a capacitor plant. status
2026-07-14 Precision electromagnetic lensesDemonstrated · BARC has built a working indigenous tungsten-filament SEM with its own electromagnetic-coil lens system, but India's instrument market remains dominated by imported Japanese systems and no Indian company manufactures these lens columns commercially. status
2026-07-14 Heavy forging press (60000-tonne class)No capability · India's largest operating press is about 16,000 tons at Bharat Forge, with a 20,000-ton isothermal press still at the tender stage and nothing approaching the 60,000-tonne class anywhere in the country. status
2026-07-14 Reusable launch vehicleEmerging · ISRO has flown a hypersonic re-entry glide test and three low-speed autonomous landing tests of a scaled winged demonstrator, but has not yet flown, recovered, and reflown an actual orbital-class launch vehicle stage. status
2026-07-14 Optical fibre preform manufacturingProducing · Sterlite Technologies (STL) has manufactured optical fibre preform indigenously at industrial scale in Aurangabad since the 1990s and expanded it in 2019, but India's second-largest fibre-cable maker, HFCL, still imports preform and only approved its own greenfield preform plant in 2026 for completion by 2029. status
2026-07-14 Large marine diesel engineEmerging · R&D and licensing discussions exist but no indigenous large-scale production or fielded large engines; recent Navy contract for Kirloskar 6 MW development and Everllence talks for two-stroke licensing. status
2026-07-14 High-speed trainEmerging · R&D and prototype contracts exist for B28 trainsets; manufacturing underway at BEML Bengaluru with rollout targeted Dec 2026/Mar 2027, but nothing demonstrated or produced at scale as of mid-2026. status
2026-07-14 Carbon fibre manufacturingEmerging · No domestic production exists; multiple programmes launched for T100-grade fibre with first output targeted 2025-27, but none fielded or scaled yet. status
2026-07-14 AI accelerator chipNo capability · No Indian company, lab or government programme has demonstrated or produced a working AI accelerator chip; efforts focus on general semiconductor design and manufacturing incentives only. status
2026-07-14 Small modular reactorEmerging · Multiple designs under development by BARC/NPCIL with budget allocation and site proposals, but no prototypes built or operating. status
2026-07-14 Transmission electron microscopeNo capability · No Indian programmes, prototypes, or production of TEMs exist; domestic facilities exclusively use imported systems from JEOL, Thermo Fisher/FEI, Hitachi, and Zeiss. status
2026-07-14 MRI scannerProducing · VoxelGrids has secured CDSCO manufacturing and commercial sale license (2023), deployed operational 1.5T units, and begun limited production; SAMEER government project has demonstrated subsystems and is in clinical trials toward commercialization. status
2026-07-14 Industrial robot armEmerging · Record installations (9,120 in 2024) but domestic manufacturing limited to a few small-scale or cobot-focused producers like Systemantics and TAL; no evidence of significant volume production of full industrial arms. status
2026-07-14 AESA fighter radarDemonstrated · Extensive airborne testing (125+ sorties, >150 flights total) across A2A/A2G modes completed on Tejas prototypes with performance on par or exceeding EL/M-2052 in some metrics; TT to HAL completed 2023 and cleared for production by CEMILAC in 2025 but serial integration deferred to avoid delays. status
2026-07-14 Grid-scale battery energy storage systemsProducing · Limited grid-scale BESS deployments (hundreds of MW/MWh commissioned) and initial system/pack manufacturing exist, driven by tenders and VGF/PLI schemes, but full cell-to-system localization and volume remain below global leaders. status
2026-07-14 Battery cathode active materialsEmerging · Pilot production of 100 kg/day LFP CAM started in 2023 via Altmin-ARCI partnership; commercial giga-factory plans target 2027 but no significant domestic manufacturing capacity exists as of 2026. status
2026-07-14 Lithium-ion battery cell gigafactoryEmerging · Small-scale production (1.4 GWh by Ola) has begun under PLI but gigafactory-scale output (tens of GWh) is absent; massive delays from supply chain, DVA rules and specialist visas. status
2026-07-14 Turboprop engineNo capability · No evidence of any indigenous turboprop engine programme; platforms such as HTT-40, Dornier 228 and planned HALE UAVs use imported Honeywell TPE331 variants. status
2026-07-14 Advanced semiconductor fabrication (sub-7nm node)No capability · Approved projects under the India Semiconductor Mission target mature nodes (28 nm and above); explicit statements confirm no leading-edge logic fabs at sub-7nm and no path before 2030+. status
2026-07-14 High-power CO2 laser systemsNo capability · Extensive searches yield no evidence of R&D, prototypes, or production of high-power pulsed CO2 lasers for EUV/semiconductor use; all such systems come from foreign suppliers. status
2026-07-14 Precision optics and mirror figuringNo capability · No evidence of indigenous capability in the picometer-precision mirror fabrication required for semiconductor lithography equipment; Indian optics firms focus on defense and space applications. status
2026-07-14 Wide-chord composite fan bladesNo capability · No Indian programme, prototype, or production of wide-chord composite (CFRP) fan blades identified in DRDO/GTRE/HAL efforts or public records; all advanced aero-engines in Indian service use imported technology. status
2026-07-14 Thermal barrier coatingsDemonstrated · DMRL has developed and lab-tested multiple metallic/ceramic TBC systems for Ni-superalloys and Nb-alloys, including bi-layer coatings that withstood equivalent 1000h engine operation on Kaveri-related components, but these remain at laboratory/prototype scale without evidence of industrial production. status
2026-07-14 Single-crystal turbine blade castingDemonstrated · DMRL proved vacuum investment casting with 2024 HPT blade deliveries and supplied 60 finished blades to HAL; PTC advancing post-cast ops via 2025 GTRE order, yet RFI seeks partners for scale and certification, and India not among the five nations with full mass-production chain. status
2026-07-14 Laser-produced tin-plasma EUV light sourceNo capability · Extensive searches of government, industry, and research sources reveal no Indian R&D programs, prototypes, or production efforts for laser-produced tin-plasma EUV sources; all semiconductor activity involves acquiring ready ASML tools for fabs. status
2026-07-14 Nickel-based superalloysProducing · MIDHANI has developed ~50% of required alloy systems for the 120kN AMCA engine, with ~80% of those certified by CEMILAC for series production, including mill forms and forgings of nickel-based superalloys, supported by new 6000-ton forge press and VIM upgrades. status
2026-07-14 Large-aircraft final assembly lineNo capability · No indigenous or scaled final assembly line exists for large aircraft (A320-class or equivalent); only smaller/medium platforms like Tejas and C-295 are assembled domestically. status
2026-07-14 Integrated commercial avionics suiteEmerging · R&D and prototype deliveries underway for small civil aircraft via Paras Defence/NAL, with no production-scale manufacturing or certification for commercial airliners. status
2026-07-14 Fly-by-wire flight control systemDemonstrated · An indigenous quadruplex digital flight control computer has flown successfully on a Tejas Mk1A prototype (Feb 2024) and a new version is being built for AMCA, but it is not yet in full-rate fielded production across the fleet. status
2026-07-14 Civil aircraft type certificationDemonstrated · DGCA has issued indigenous type certificates for light aircraft (Hansa, HAL-228) under FAR-23/JAR-VLA rules, but no Indian design has completed certification in the large-transport (Part 25) category that covers regional jets and airliners. status