They need to move from ‘participation’ to ‘taking lead’

Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh has called upon the private sector to move forward from ‘participation’ to ‘taking lead’ in the defence sector, assuring the Government’s full support to make India an innovation & technology hub and one of the strongest countries in the world. 

He was addressing scientists, industry leaders, academia, start-ups, MSMEs and young entrepreneurs during Twaral, a DRDO-Industry Workshop on Defence Technology Acceleration organised at DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi recently. 

Sharing insights on the transformation of the defence sector in the recent past, he stated that, technology has transformed conventional warfare into unconventional warfare. “New dimensions have been added to modern-day warfare such as drones, cyber warfare, bio-weapons and space defence. 

In this transformative phase, R&D in defence will definitely make the defence sector stronger. It is heartening to witness our scientists, industrialists, academia, start-ups, MSMEs and young entrepreneurs working together in this endeavour. It is time for the private sector to take lead as it has the ability to absorb rapid changes and create new innovations,” he said.

Raksha Mantri reiterated the Government’s commitment to make the defence sector more innovative and technology-oriented. Highlighting the consistent efforts being made by DRDO to strengthen the R&D environment and promote scientific temperament, he said: 

“Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme is providing up to 90% of the total project cost as grant support to eligible industries. The total support is up to Rs 50 crore, a good amount for any MSME and start-up to invest in defence R&D. 

Since its launch six years ago, 79 projects have been sanctioned, of which, technology has successfully been developed in 18 projects.”