Need help from Startups to break ‘Catch-Up’ Paradigm : Secretary Defence Production
Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Department of Defence Production, on Monday, said that the present indigenisation process, that placed the country in a continuous ‘catch-up’ paradigm, would need the help of start-ups to be disrupted by indigenous innovation.
“Defence Innovation Unit in U.S. is recognition of the fact that the future of the Defence industry is going to be in the hands of startups. In India we are fortunate that we have the worlds third largest ecosystem,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Department of Defence Production. “Israel has shown the world what startups have created. U.S. has realised this now.”
“At the macro level, we are playing catch-up. We import technology, we try to indigenise and by the time we indigenise, the new one has already come. This is the limitation of the present system,” he said.
“For the T72 and T90 tanks we were importing 760 HP and 1000 HP engines. Once these engines were indigenised by the Ordinance Factory Board the price came down to 40 per cent of the import price. However, if the T72 needs to be upgraded with 1000 HP engines, we have to go for a fresh ToT (Transfer of Technology) so that the 1000 HP engine can be fitted into T72, since the form-factor is different. This situation needs to change,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar.
Citing the case of CK Varghese, a mechanical engineering student from Kerala, who is developing a rifle, he said that the Defence Investor Cell is here to help young entrepreneurs. The Defence Investor Cell put him across to the Army Design Bureau, which looked at his work and gave him insights for further improvement. CK Varghese filed his fourth patent after that.
Cautioning start-ups not to give up too early, he gave the example of Richard Jordan Gatling, an American inventor best known for his invention of the Gatling gun, whose automatic weapon took 4 years to be introduced in the armed forces.
“More and more technology in Defence is being determined by software. This is where we can offer features that are better than the best. The world is moving from Automatic (event triggered) to Automated (rule based algorithms) to Autonomous (goal oriented). Autonomy based systems is providing a whole range of opportunities for startups,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar.
31 Projects approved under DPP Make II
Sanjay Jaju, Joint Secretary, DoDP, and CEO, IDeX, said that 31 projects had been accorded in-principle approval under Make II of the DPP. “Many of them have already moved up the value chain,” he said.
“The Make II is and Industry funded scheme. Speed under it is faster than any other make projects that have happened. In 6 to 7 months, 31 projects were given in principle approval and are moving forward with assurance of order. It has a sub-category for suo-moto proposals. We have now approved 2 such proposals and 12 more are under consideration,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar.
The Ministry of Defence has been organising outreach and sensitisation programs for the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC) is association with incubator partners for the iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence). The outreach and sensitisation programs began in Hyderabad in T-HUB, followed by Forge in Coimbatore, then in IIT Madras and the fourth one in Bangalore. Over the coming weeks the programs will be held in IIM-Ahmedabad, IIT-Mumbai and IIT-Delhi.
“HAL and BEL are putting the initial capital for IDEX to grow. Will be interested to see the projects succeed,” said R Madhavan, Chairman and Managing Director, HAL. HAL and BEL are putting in an initial capital of Rs. 50 crore each.
The last date for submission of applications to the DISC, being organised by the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) has been extended till October 31, 2018.
The challenge was launched on August 04, 2018 by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Applicants (startups/MSMEs & individuals) showing capability, intent, and promise to produce functional prototypes or to productise existing technologies will be awarded up to Rs. 1.5 crores, on a milestone basis in the form of grant/equity/debt/other relevant structures along with incubation and mentoring support.
The Defence India Startup Challenge has 11 problem statements by Ministry of Defence :
- Individual Protection System with built-in sensors
- See Through Armour
- Carbon Fibre Winding (CFW)
- Active Protection System (APS)
- Secure hardware based offline Encrypt or Device for Graded Security
- Development of 4G/LTE based Tactical Local Area Network
- Delopment of Advanced Technology Based Desalination System (Water Purification) and Bilge Oily Water Separation System
- Artificial Intelligence in Logistics & SCM
- Unmanned Surface and Underwater Vehicles
- Remotely Piloted Airborne Vehicles
- Laser Weaponry
Applications can be submitted at aim.gov.in/idex, by October 31, 2018, in the online form.
