The Defence Ministry on Sunday announced approval to budgetary help of Rs 498.8 crore by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to the scheme Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) by Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO). The scheme intends to financially help close to 300 MSMEs, startups, person innovations, and 20 companion incubators below the DIO framework for the next 5 years to increase self-reliance and indigenisation in defence and aerospace sector of the nation. The budgetary help would look at engaging MSMEs, startups, person innovators, R&D institutes by means of grants or funding, and other help to carry out R&D development that has great prospective for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace desires.
“The scheme aims to facilitate rapid development of new, indigenised and innovative technologies for the Indian defence and aerospace sector to meet their needs in shorter timelines; create a culture of engagement with innovative startups to encourage co-creation for defence and aerospace; empower a culture of technology co-creation and co-innovation within the defence and aerospace sector and boost innovation among the startups and encourage them to be a part of the ecosystem,” the ministry mentioned.
The Department of Defence Production (DDP) will release funds to DIO for “setting up and managing the iDEX network in the form of partner incubators, for communicating with innovators, startups, technology centres of MSMEs through such incubators including those under Department of Science and Technology regarding defence and aerospace needs.” DDP will also organize distinctive challenges and hackathons to shortlist prospective technologies and entities and evaluate technologies and items created by innovators, and startups in terms of their utility and effect on the defence and aerospace setup.
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Other activities below the programme would involve interfacing with the armed forces leading brass about crucial revolutionary technologies and encouraging their adoption into the defence establishment with appropriate help, indigenization, and integration in manufacturing facilities for effectively piloted technologies and organising outreach activities across India.
Importantly, the procurement of defence-connected goods and services by the government from micro and modest enterprises (MSEs) had elevated, although marginally, by 2.2 per cent to Rs 9,293 crore in FY21 from Rs 9,090 crore in FY20 following declining from Rs 12,112 crore in FY19, TheSpuzz Online had reported. According to a statement by the Ministry of Defence in September 2020, about 11,000 MSMEs had been engaged as vendors in supplying defence-connected goods to Ordnance Factory Board and defence PSUs.