Rajnath Singh calls for increased synergy between DRDO, domestic defence industry

NEW DELHI: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and domestic defence industry should explore new ways for enhancing synergy to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday.
Addressing the DRDO Industry Synergy Summit 2019 at Hyderabad through video conferencing, Singh said defence public sector units (DPSUs), industry, research institutes and armed forces need to work in tandem to achieve the target of incorporating at least 25 artificial intelligence based products into defence in near future.

"Raksha Mantri appreciated that DRDO has nurtured more than 1,800 industries which are actively working together to produce defence systems. He asked the DRDO and industry to explore new ways for enhancing synergy to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency," a government press release said.

Singh said under the Defence Production Policy, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has set the target of USD 26 billion for aerospace, defence services and goods by 2025.

"In this, approximately USD 10 billion is targeted for creating job opportunities for 20-30 lakh people," the release said.

In his address, G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence, Research and Development, who also holds the charge of Chairman of DRDO, elaborated about latest policies of the DRDO like zero fees for Transfer of Technology (ToT) and zero royalty for Development-cum-Production Partners (DcPP) and free usage of DRDO patents by domestic Industry.

Expressing confidence in defence industry, Reddy said healthy scenario needs to be fostered for closer interactions between industry and the DRDO to overcome the gaps.