Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed an MoU to establish a state-of-the-art testing facility in Mechanical & Material domain Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor in Tiruchirappalli under the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS), on July 28, 2025 in New Delhi. The MoU was exchanged between the senior officials of MoD and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO), in the presence of Secretary (Defence Production), MoD Sanjeev Kumar.

The DTIS provides up to 75 per cent government funding as 'Grant-in-Aid', with the remaining 25 per cent funded by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), comprising Indian private entities and State/Central Governments.

For the Mechanical & Material domain testing facility, Micro Labs, a private entity, is the lead SPV member. Other members of the SPV consortium are Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Vaidheswaran Industries. Upon the completion of the project, it will provide advanced testing equipment and services to both government and private industry, thus giving a boost to 'Aatmanirbharta' in defence.

With an outlay of ₹400 crore, the DTIS was launched by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, to set up state-of-the-art testing facilities in collaboration with private industry and Central/State Government. The objective is to promote Aatmnirbharta through indigenous defence production and by reducing military equipment imports. To provide impetus to defence and aerospace sectors within the Defence Industrial Corridors, seven testing facilities were approved – four in Tamil Nadu and three in Uttar Pradesh.