Minister offers Transfer of Technology through DRDO at zero fee
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has called on the private sector to help India stay abreast with the latest technological advancements amid the constantly-evolving global security scenario.
Addressing a session ‘Advantage Uttar Pradesh: Defence Corridor’, organised as part of Uttar Pradesh Global Investors’ Summit on 10 Feb 2023, he urged the defence companies to increase their investment and emphasis more on R&D to take the defence industry to newer heights and ensure overall growth of the country.
He also offered Transfer of Technology through DRDO at zero fee; access to government labs; dedicating a quarter of the defence R&D budget to industry-led R&D; introduction of the Strategic Partnership model, which provides an opportunity to Indian private entities to tie-up with global Original Equipment Manufacturers, and launch of the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative.
He also announced Technology Development Fund to promote start-ups and innovators.
Further, India defence export was Rs.13,000 crore last year, the Minister informed.
He listed out many other steps taken by the Central government to strengthen the defence industry.
These include measures to encourage private sector participation; earmarking of a certain part of the capital expenditure of defence for domestic procurement; allocation of a huge part of the defence budget to purchase domestic items; notifications of positive indigenisation lists; enhancement of FDI limit and reforms in the banking sector.
The Minister wants to see more investment in Uttar Pradesh & Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) to achieve ‘Make in India, Make for the World’.
He said that the DICs have been conceptualised to help in providing basic facilities to the defence industry, exuding confidence that they will soon become the backbone of the sector.
On the UP Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC), he mentioned that the corridor nodes (Agra, Aligarh, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow) are historically-important industrial areas, connected not only with the state but the entire country.
This corridor has the potential to provide to the defence industry an ecosystem which is crucial for any organisation involved in R&D and production.
“There are corridors of power in the country which are necessary for running the governance of the country. When these corridors start interfering in the work of the industries, red-tapism increases and the businesses are adversely affected,” said Rajnath Singh.
“Keeping this in mind, two dedicated corridors (UP & Tamil Nadu) were created for industrialists, free from unnecessary interference of the Government,” he said.
Rajnath Singh pointed out that the UPDIC have signed MoUs with more than 100 investors. So far, more than 550 hectares of land has been allotted to over 30 organisations and an investment of about Rs.2,500 crore has been made.
These statistics will increase, he said, hoping that the UPDIC will prove to be a runway for the state’s defence industry to touch greater heights. fiinews.com
