PM: “The world sees that India is changing. There is hope in India and the reason is the skills of 1.3 billion Indians”
By Vikas Gupta
Defence News of India, 16 Aug 22
Speaking from Delhi’s Red Fort on Independence Day 2022, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi called on the private sector to embrace innovation, to play a key role in the Atmanirbhar Bharat Initiative (India autonomous).
Expressing his oft-expressed belief that “India can do for the world,” Modi praised the military for pushing Atmanirbhar Bharat forward in technological innovation.
As always, the new government initiative comes with a catchy new slogan. Quoting former Prime Minister Lal Bahudar Shashtri’s signature slogan, “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”, and affixing Prime Minister Atal Vihari Vajpayee’s “Jai Vigyan”, Prime Minister Modi went further adding, “Jai Anusandhan ” (long live innovation).
Placing the responsibility for innovation on citizens, Mr. Modi said: “[In] Autonomous India, [innovation] becomes the responsibility of every citizen, every government, every unit of society. Self-Governing India is not a government program or a government program. It is a mass movement of society, which we must advance.
“The world sees that India is changing. There is hope in India and the reason for that is the skills of 130 million Indians,” the Prime Minister said.
The government has drawn attention to its innovation programs through statements and responses to questions from Parliament. On July 29, Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt tabled a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, listing the measures the government had taken to promote innovation.
The response stated that the Ministry of Defense (MoD) had launched a program called “Innovations for Defense Excellence” (iDEX) which was a means of financing micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups. ups who had submitted plans for innovative projects. projects.
PM Modi had launched iDEX in April 2018, touting it as the MoD’s flagship product for technological innovation. iDEX was to provide start-ups with a platform for co-creation and co-development in defense and aerospace technologies.
Under iDEX, defense start-ups and MSMEs are encouraged to pitch technological solutions to functional issues that the military periodically raises as “challenges.” Innovators are encouraged to engage directly with the military through the iDEX Open Challenge and showcase what they have to offer. Selected applicants have the opportunity to present to the iDEX Grand Jury and qualify for grants and investments.
Last month, iDEX signed its 100th contract in New Delhi with a company called Pacify Medical Technologies Pvt Ltd.
“Thanks to these government actions, defense procurement spending from foreign sources, which previously accounted for 46% of overall spending, has been reduced to 36% over the past four years. that’s to say 2018-19 to 2021-22,” the MoD told parliament last month.
iDEX is funded and operated by the Defense Innovation Organization (DIO), which is registered as a “not-for-profit” company under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013. Its founding members are the two largest defense public sector companies (DPSU). ): Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd.
The MoD has reserved certain projects and products for innovators. In March, it announced the reservation of 18 major defense platforms for industry-led design and development.
Last year, the Ministry of Defense notified three “positive indigenization lists”, reserving a total of 310 defense products and 2,958 other items for DPSUs. These lists prohibited the importation of products beyond the specified time periods.
