Rajnath Singh wants the industry to file its own patents
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has called upon the domestic defence manufacturers to invest more in Research & Development (R&D) for India to keep up pace with the continuously-evolving world.
He was addressing the North Tech Symposium, jointly organised by the Northern Command of the Indian Army, Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and IIT, Jammu, on 12 Sept 2023.
Rajnath Singh was of the view that although R&D is a risky venture as it requires out-of-the-box thinking and sometimes does not give desired results, it still remains one of the basic elements for the development of any country. Hence, capital investment in R&D becomes a necessity, he emphasised.
“India is passing through a transitional phase. There is nothing wrong in acquiring a technology through imitation or transfer, but we cannot become a developed nation on these grounds alone,” he said.
“We need to file our own patents, for which a lot of investment in R&D is needed. Capital investment in R&D may reduce today’s profits, but it will prove to be beneficial to the industry and the country in the long term,” he stressed.
The Minister also urged the industry partners to focus on creating a culture that encourages R&D, based on skilled human resources. He suggested linking the work of institutes such as IITs, IIMs and IISCs with the defence sector in order to create an R&D ecosystem in the field.
He added that efforts should be made to connect with the Indian R&D sector, the engineers and scientists who work in top universities, companies, space agencies & scientific research organisations abroad and wish to be a part of India’s growth story. He also recommended hiring of top managers, legal experts and financial experts from within the country and abroad to create a culture conducive of R&D.
Rajnath Singh underlined the need to ensure a proper distinction in ownership and management in Indian industrial units. Dynastic ownership can be justified in the case of companies, but management at the dynastic level sometimes proves fatal for the company and its employees.
He also exhorted SIDM to create an independent body, comprising scientists and experts from the industry, which will work with transparency and evaluate the products made by the companies. “The buyer or the government will definitely try to check the quality of the products from their end, but there is a need to develop a system for internal evaluation as well. This quality check system will increase your credibility globally with time,” he said.
He suggested SIDM to create an internal vigilance mechanism to counter the potential cases of corruption and favoritism. “If any company affiliated with you is indulging in any wrongdoing or passing wrong information, then you should bring it before the government. Such actions will further increase people’s trust in the institutions,” he said.
The North Tech symposium is an event conducted annually and this year it was organised at IIT, Jammu. The event witnessed an enthusiastic participation of around 200 Industry partners and provided an opportunity for knowledge diffusion among various stakeholders to create awareness of contemporary technologies and hardware solutions available with the manufacturers under ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. Fiinews.com
