Ministry of Defence, GoI & SCOPE in association with PESB organise National Defence Talent & Capability Conclave 2026

Department of Defence Production (DDP), MoD, GoI, & SCOPE in association with PESB and Knowledge Partner, Deloitte organised the National Defence Talent & Capability Conclave 2026 recently. Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, DDP; Shri K. Moses Chalai, Secretary, DPE; PESB Members – Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma and Shri Roop Narayan Sunkar; and Shri Atul Sobti, DG, SCOPE, addressed the participants in the presence of Shri Vijay Namdeorao Zade, Joint Secretary; Smt. Manisha Chandra, Joint Secretary; and Smt. Meera Mohanty, Joint Secretary from DDP. 

With over 50 participants, the conclave brought together senior Government officials from DDP, DPE and PESB, CMDs & Directors of 16 DPSUs, and leaders from the private defence industry. The conclave marked a first-of-its-kind initiative to bring together key stakeholders from the defence public sector and private industry to deliberate on talent development and future-ready leadership in India’s defence ecosystem. The conclave witnessed participation from leading private defence organisations, including Tata Advanced Systems Ltd., L&T Precision Engineering & Systems, Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd., and Astra Microwave Products Ltd. During the panel discussion, industry leaders shared suggestions on nurturing young talent, promoting multidisciplinary skills, AI adoption, enhancing industry-academia collaboration, and providing early leadership opportunities to build a future-ready defence workforce.

Shri Sanjeev Kumar in his address stated that the expanding defence sector would require a corresponding expansion of its talent pool. Emphasising the importance of human resource development, he underscored the need to identify and nurture talent and provide employees with meaningful roles and responsibilities from an early stage.

Shri K. Moses Chalai emphasised that sustaining growth in the defence sector requires a strong focus on production, supply chains, value chains, technology and, above all, manpower development.

Shri Alkesh Kumar Sharma in his address said that the leadership pipeline can be strengthened by giving talent cross-functional assignments and formal roles in different functions. 

Shri Roop Narayan Sunkar highlighted that leadership development in the defence sector must extend beyond manufacturing to encompass functions such as legal and finance. He emphasised the importance of bringing together professionals from diverse disciplines to ensure holistic leadership development.

Shri Atul Sobti highlighted the roundtable as a first-of-its-kind initiative bringing together public and private sector defence organisations, emphasising a culture of competing, collaborating and coexisting while nurturing leaders with strategic foresight and deep technical expertise.