New Delhi: The Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence, in association with the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) and the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), organised the National Defence Talent and Capability Conclave 2026 to discuss talent development and future-ready leadership in India's defence sector.
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The conclave was organised with Deloitte as the knowledge partner and brought together more than 50 participants, including senior government officials, CMDs and directors of 16 defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs), and leaders from the private defence industry.
Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, DDP; K. Moses Chalai, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE); PESB Members Alkesh Kumar Sharma and Roop Narayan Sunkar; and Atul Sobti, Director General, SCOPE, addressed the participants. Vijay Namdeorao Zade, Manisha Chandra and Meera Mohanty, Joint Secretaries in DDP, were also present.
The conclave marked a first-of-its-kind initiative to bring together stakeholders from the defence public sector and private industry to deliberate on workforce development, leadership capabilities and the evolving talent requirements of India's defence ecosystem.
Private sector participants included Tata Advanced Systems Ltd., L&T Precision Engineering & Systems, Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd. and Astra Microwave Products Ltd.
During a panel discussion, industry leaders shared suggestions on nurturing young talent, promoting multidisciplinary skills, adopting artificial intelligence (AI), strengthening industry-academia collaboration and providing early leadership opportunities to develop a future-ready defence workforce.
Addressing the gathering, Sanjeev Kumar said the expansion of the defence sector would require a corresponding increase in the available talent pool. He emphasised the need to identify and nurture talent while providing employees with meaningful roles and responsibilities at an early stage of their careers.
K. Moses Chalai stressed that sustaining growth in the defence sector would require a strong focus on production, supply chains, value chains, technology and, most importantly, manpower development.
Alkesh Kumar Sharma said organisations could strengthen their leadership pipeline by providing talented employees with cross-functional assignments and formal responsibilities across different functions.
Roop Narayan Sunkar highlighted the need to extend leadership development beyond manufacturing to areas such as legal and finance. He emphasised bringing together professionals from diverse disciplines to support a more holistic approach to leadership development.
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Atul Sobti described the conclave as a first-of-its-kind initiative bringing public and private sector defence organisations together. He emphasised the importance of fostering a culture of competition, collaboration and coexistence while developing leaders with strategic foresight and strong technical expertise.
The discussions focused on strengthening the defence sector's talent pipeline and preparing its workforce to meet emerging technological, industrial and leadership requirements.
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