Recently inaugurating the Ahmedabad Design Week 3.0, Chief of Army Staff General (COAS) MM Naravane stated that 85 per cent of the purchases made by the Indian Army is “Indian”.
“As far as the Indian Army is concerned 85% of whatever we buy is from Indian Companies. The defence corridors in Chennai & Lucknow have helped in changing the entire ecosystem of the defence industry,“ COAS MM Naravane asserted.
The General while addressing students at Karnavati University in Gandhinagar mentioned that the Indian Army is spearheading the process of developing a made-in-India infantry combat vehicle, an armoured personnel carrier and is finding reasonable solutions for providing water and power to the forward areas.
“Look at the combat tanks. It has essentially remained the same for the last 60-70 years. It had a hull, it had a caterpillar track and a gun on top. If you see a battle tank of World War I when it first came out, and if you see a tank today, it looks almost the same. We need a design change. Can we think of something radically different which is unique to us,” the General said.
Push to Indian defence startup ecosystem
At the inaugural ceremony, the Army Chief pointed out that the ‘Army Design Bureau’ works as a facilitator between the designers and the Indian Army under the Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and Technology Development Fund of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), which provides financial support to the start-ups and MSMEs.
“We are working on 26 projects in iDEX, under which 33 start-ups are involved in it. Some of the results have borne fruit and are under trial and evaluation right now, “General MM Naravene said.
Armours, drone jammers, unmanned surface vehicles, image analytics and vital ammunition are some of the things Indian Army is presently working on with these startups. Further, the trails of these defence armours are at the final stages of evaluation.
India’s first ‘Robotic Lifebuoys’ by Indian Navy and iDEX
In a major boost to the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign, for the first time, iDEX and Indian Navy inked a Rs. 13 crore contract to procure the country’s first indigenously developed Robotic Lifebuoys under the iDEX challenge “Unmanned Surface Vehicles”. The contract was secured by a Startup – Saif Seas, based in Visakhapatnam.
Further, the Indian Government has also approved a scheme with an outlay of Rs. 500 Crore (2021-22 to 2025-26) to push innovation and support startups in Defence & Aerospace sector. The move enables more than 300 startups to participate in the new design and development projects.
Defence Corridors changing entire defence ecosystem
General MM Naravne asserted the importance of defence corridors in Chennai & Lucknow, which have helped in changing the entire ecosystem of the defence industry.
Two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) have been established in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to bolster the Defence manufacturing ecosystem in India. These Defence Corridors aims to attract investment of Rs. 10,000 crore in each DIC.
Giving impetus to the growth of Defence Industrial Corridors, both the DICs have been integrated with the PM’s ‘Gati Shakti’ National Master Plan. Till date, Rs. 1401.68 crore and Rs. 2,252 crore have been invested in Uttar Pradesh & Tamil Nadu DICs respectively.
Budget 2022: Providing thrust to modernisation & defence infrastructure
The Union Budget for FY 2022-23 gave a major impetus to the modernisation of Defence Services and Defence Security Infrastructure development, including the Border Road Infrastructure and Coastal Security Infrastructure.
The Budget envisaged a total outlay of Rs 39.45 lakh crore. Out of this, the Defence Ministry allocated a total budget of Rs 5.25 lakh crore, which is 13.31% of the total budget. This includes an amount of Rs 1.19 lakh crore for Defence Pensions. The total Defence Budget represents an enhancement of Rs 46,970 crore (9.82%) over Budget Estimates 2021-22.
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