NEW DELHI: Defence Minister 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.

Sharing insights on the transformation of the defence sector in the recent past, Defence Minister stated that, today, 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.

Rajnath Singh termed the adoption of unconventional ideas, not yet known to the world, as the only way to progress in unconventional warfare. Acknowledging it as a tough task, he stated that the Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will continue providing all necessary support to the youth, scientists, industrialists and MSMEs in this endeavour.

Defence Minister 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.”

As part of the event, Shri Rajnath Singh launched ‘Dare to Dream 5.0’ to encourage next generation of innovators & start-ups to come forward with transformative ideas for defence applications. The fifth edition of DRDO’s innovation contest aims to generate cutting-edge solutions for India to progress further in its pursuit to achieve ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence technologies.

Defence Minister also felicitated the winners of ‘Dare to Dream 4.0’, recognising individual innovators, start-ups and MSMEs for disruptive solutions and innovations in the fields of countermeasures for drones and swarm of drones; advanced acoustic system to locate gunfire, directed energy technologies, cognitive listening device, target seeking & proximity sensing, free-space laser communication system, multi-terrain multi-utility robot among others.

Rajnath Singh described the challenges as a testament to the commitment of the industrial ecosystem of the country to protect the future of the defence sector. “Like our brave soldiers, scientists, industry leaders, academia, start-ups, MSMEs and entrepreneurs too are the warriors of the country, prepared to complete every assigned task,” he said.

Defence Minister laid emphasis on the need to achieve advancements in both incremental and disruptive technologies within the defence sector. The solutions to challenges obtained through initiatives such as ‘Dare to Dream’ bridge the critical gap between the two types of technologies, he said. He called upon the scientists, start-ups & young entrepreneurs to think out-of-the-box and come out with latest innovations as if it were their habit to accept & overcome challenges.