Rajnath Singh exhorts private sector to move ahead from initative to innovative tech to cater needs of Armed Forces

New Delhi [India], October 7 : New technologies are constantly being incorporated in ongoing wars. Not only conventional arms and ammunition are being used, but many types of dual use, or even purely civilian items and technologies are being used as weapons, it's time to understand these types of technological applications in depth, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday in Delhi.
Singh launched the second edition of Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI 2.0) challenges and the 12th edition of Defence India Start-up Challenges (DISC 12) during DefConnect 4.0 at Manekshaw Centre.
On the new technologies being incorporated in wars and conflicts, Singh said apart from conventional arms and ammunition, many dual use or purely civilian tech is being weaponised. He called for an in-depth understanding of these technologies, exhorting the innovators to make imaginative use of the advancements for the defence of the nation.
In his address, Singh commended DefConnect for playing a crucial role in developing the culture of innovation in the country. He stated that the platform is bringing a new energy to the defence industrial ecosystem, and making the nation's talent a partner in strengthening the security apparatus.
He added that 26 products have been developed under iDEX, for which procurement orders worth more than Rs 1,000 crore have been placed. In addition, Acceptance of Necessity and Request for Proposal worth over Rs 2,380 crore have been issued for 37 products.
He reiterated the Government's commitment to further enhance the role of the private sector in the defence ecosystem. Their involvement is necessary to achieve self-reliance.
He pointed out that as soon as the Goverment, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came to power in 2014, it identified 'lack of private sector participation in the defence sector' as a major hurdle in attaining self-reliance, and strived to increase their contribution in nation building.
"There were two major dimensions of self-reliance in the defence sector. First was the manufacturing of arms/equipment, whose technology was available, but there was a lack of production capacity. Second was catering to the needs of high-technology applications in view of the constantly-changing nature of warfare. Earlier, only in-house R&D and organisations like DRDO were working towards the development of such cutting edge technologies. But now, we are witnessing a significant role of the private sector too. There is enhanced synergy between the public & private sectors, the biggest example of which is DefConnect," he said.
He promised the Government's full assistance to achieve the goal of a strong and self-reliant defence sector.