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At 'VIMARSH', a DRDO-Industry Synergy Meet in New Delhi themed 'Varta se Vikas', the Defence Minister unveiled a framework lowering technical and financial entry barriers for MSMEs and deep-tech start-ups through direct funding, incubation support and access to DRDO testing facilities.
A standardised, secure framework for sharing DRDO-developed software source codes with licensee industries was launched, aimed at software-defined defence capabilities and obsolescence management.
Nine Licensing Agreements for Transfer of Technology were handed to 13 manufacturing partners, and MoUs were exchanged with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers and Laghu Udyog Bharati.
DRDO signed a contract with the Quality Council of India for SAMAR version 2.0, to benchmark the manufacturing maturity of domestic defence enterprises.
Officials disclosed that over 2,300 technology transfers have gone to more than 1,100 industries, with technologies for around 50 DRDO-developed missiles made available to industry.
Build an innovation ecosystem in defence and aerospace by engaging MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia
Key: Launched in April 2018; operationalised by the Defence Innovation Organisation, a not-for-profit Section 8 company funded jointly by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited
Fund deep-tech, critical and strategic technologies within the iDEX framework
Key: Launched on 4 March 2024 at DefConnect 2024 with a corpus of Rs 750 crore, targeting 30 deep-tech technologies; grants of up to Rs 25 crore per project for selected start-ups and MSMEs
Grant-in-aid for Indian industry, including MSMEs and start-ups, to develop defence and dual-use technologies not already available domestically
Key: Launched in September 2016 and executed by DRDO under Make in India; funds up to 90% of the project cost
Embargo the import of listed defence items so they must be procured from Indian sources
Key: The first list, of 101 items, was promulgated on 21 August 2020; procurement of listed items follows the Defence Acquisition Procedure, 2020, and further lists have been notified since
India's premier defence R&D agency, formed on 1 January 1958 by combining the Defence Science Organisation with existing technical development establishments; it runs a network of laboratories across aeronautics, armaments, electronics, missiles, naval systems, life sciences and materials, and functions under the Department of Defence R&D.
The autonomous accreditation and quality body contracted here for SAMAR 2.0. Set up in 1997 on a public-private partnership model jointly by the Government of India and industry, represented by ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI; Ratan Tata was its first Chairman.
Modern platforms are software-defined: a radar or missile seeker is upgraded by changing code, not metal. Sharing source code with licensee industries is what lets a private firm sustain and upgrade a system through its life instead of returning to the lab — the stated obsolescence-management purpose.
The panel discussion covered optimising this model, under which a private firm develops a system alongside DRDO rather than only manufacturing to a frozen design — the step beyond a plain transfer of technology.
GS Paper 3 > Security > Defence Technology, Indigenisation and Aatmanirbharta
General Awareness > Defence Organisations and Schemes
With reference to 'Quality Council of India (QCI)', consider the following statements: 1. QCI was set up jointly by the Government of India and the Indian Industry. 2. Chairman of QCI is appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendations of the industry to the Government. Which of the above statements is/are correct?
Answer: Both 1 and 2
Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology — the instrument by which DRDO licenses a developed system to a firm for commercial production.
System for Advance Manufacturing Assessment and Rating, used to benchmark the manufacturing maturity of domestic defence enterprises; version 2.0 was contracted to the Quality Council of India.
A notified list of defence items whose import is embargoed, so that they must be sourced from Indian industry.