The idea for this autonomous institution was initially conceived in 1967, strongly recommended by "Sethna Committee" in 1980 and the 1999 Kargil WarReview Committee, as well as the "Group Minister's report on reforming national security system" in 2001 recommended its establishment to then Home Minister L. K. Advani, and also by K. Subrahmanyam, the proposal was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2010, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone of the Indian National Defence University at Binola in Gurgaon on 23 May 2013. Draft bill was put online in August 2016 for the public consultation, but no progress has been made since then as the bill is still awaiting approval from the Union Cabinet and the Parliament of India. As of September 2019, there is no evidence that the university will ever open, despite earlier optimism. "The country certainly needs a ‘world-class’ INDU to inject some much-needed strategic culture in governance as well as encourage robust cross-linkages between the executive and academia. Almost all major countries, from the US to China, have national defence varsities to develop national security leaders as well as undertake long-term strategic studies and threat assessments."
The much needed pending three reforms for the national security and military readiness are the integrated tri services operational commands under the Chief of Defence Staff, the make in India indigenous defence manufacturing, and the reform in military education in India. While some progress has been made towards the first two, but the reforms in military education in India are still lacking. The current military training in India trains officers with "narrow professional skills to command companies, battalions and brigades, or perform staff duties at various levels, there is practically no attempt to give the officers a sense of the larger contexts – strategic, political and international – in which the armed forces function. It is only at the highest training establishment, the National Defence College, that senior one-star officers get exposed to some of these issues. This is too little and too late. This outmoded approach to training impacts the quality of human capital at all levels in the services. Yet, no government has paid serious attention to this. The fate of the long-heralded Indian National Defence University is symptomatic of the political leadership’s neglect of this crucial area."
Administration
This autonomous University will be instituted by the Act of the Parliament of India, and President of India will be a Visitor, and the Defence Minister will be the Chancellor. INDU will be governed as per its own norms and will be responsible to promote coordination and interaction between Institutions of Armed Forces or establishments of the country. Defence training institutions will be affiliated to award degrees. The institute will be headed by a President, who will be a three-star serving General or equivalent officer with C-in-C status on appointment, and a Vice-President, who will be a civilian. The university formed on the lines of Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management will have the teaching faculty composed of military personnel and civilians in the ratio of 1:1.
Constituent units
The university will have the following constituent units:
The 205 acres and 15 marla land for the campus was acquired by the Haryana government and handed over to the Ministry of Defencein September 2012 and found stone was laid in April 2013. Of the 205 acre 15 marla land, 2 acre 3 kanal 9.5 marla was transferred to the revenue department of Haryana Government for building a road to provide access to the farmers from NH8 to their farm land, thus leaving 202 acres, 5 kanal and 5.5 marla for the university campus. However, BhumiPuja was held in 2018 during which Air Marshal A.S. Bhonsle of Integrated Defence Staff laid the first brick for the commencement of construction of boundary wall, perimeter road, watch towers and guard rooms, construction of which has been completed as of December 2019 but the construction of buildings has not yet started, "only five to seven army officials visit the site every Sunday with two security guards looking after the area". Then Union Minister of state for defence, Subhash Bhamre, had told the Lok Sabha in 2016 that "the construction work on the project will start once the Indian National Defence University Act, 2015, is passed by Parliament", which is still pending approval from the union cabinet and the national parliament.
