Hyderabad: Addressing the gathering at the DRDO Industry Synergy Summit 2019 in Hyderabad through a video message on Friday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed the synergy being created for boosting the indigenous development of defence systems and technologies. The summit was organised by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Singh said that DRDO is taking crucial steps for attaining self-sufficiency in the area of defence systems development.
Speaking at the DRDO Industry Synergy Summit, Singh said that DRDO has been contributing towards research, design and development of many defence technologies in the areas of missiles, fighter aircrafts, naval systems, electronic warfare, radars, sonars and armament systems since its inception.
The minister said under the Defence Production Policy, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has set the target of $26 billion for aerospace, defence services and goods by 2025. In this, approximately $10 billion is targeted for creating job opportunities for 20-30 lakh people, said Singh at DRDO Industry Synergy Summit.
Highlighting the various initiatives of the government to encourage innovation and self-sufficiency in the defence sector, Singh stressed on the need for excellence in the field of defence innovation and their adoption. He said, Defence Public Sector Units (DPSUs), Industry, research institutes and services need to work in tandem to achieve the target of incorporating at least 25 Artificial Intelligence-based products into defence in near future.
The minister appreciated that DRDO has nurtured more than 1,800 industries which are actively working together to produce defence systems. He asked the DRDO and industry to explore new ways for enhancing synergy to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency.
In his address, Secretary of the Department of Defence, Research & Development and Chairman of DRDO, Dr G Satheesh Reddy elaborated on the latest policies of DRDO like Zero Transfer of Technology (ToT) and Zero Royalty for Development-cum-Production Partners (DcPP) and free usage of DRDO patents by the domestic industry. Expressing confidence in the defence industry, he said, healthy scenario is to be fostered for closer interactions between industry and DRDO to overcome the gaps.
The DRDO chairman said that of late, the industry base has greatly widened from mere manufacturing to development and designing of components and sub-systems. He said, the Indian industry has matured from 'Build from Print' to 'Build from Specifications.' A panel discussion chaired by the DRDO Chairman was also held. Many concerns were raised and suggestions were given by the industry participants. It was communicated that constructive suggestions will be duly taken into account in the upcoming policies for improvement of the functioning of the system.