A day-long industry interaction and brainstorming session was organised by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad on May 27, 2023. It was aimed at bringing all defence industries, including MSMEs & start-ups, to one platform for understanding their concerns while increasing awareness on various industry-friendly initiatives and policies of DRDO. More than 180 industries participated in the event.

Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V. Kamat chaired the open brainstorming session ‘Chintan’. He assured the industry that DRDO will extend all possible support to them and will play the role of a mentor in building their capabilities to make India a net defence exporter. The DRDO Chairman emphasised the need to undertake such initiatives on a regular basis as these events provide a renewed impetus to boost the Indian defence manufacturing sector to achieve complete self-reliance.

Director, Directorate of Industry Interface & Technology Management (DIITM) Arun Chaudhary gave a brief overview on various initiatives and policies of DRDO which support the Indian industries. He explained the process of ‘Transfer of Technology’ by DRDO to the industry, bringing out the salient features of the Policy. He explained the necessity and process of selection of industries as Development cum production partners. The highlights of Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme were aptly explained to industry. He also gave details of DRDO policy and procedures on utilisation of its infrastructure Testing facility and DRDO patents by Indian industry.

The DRDO, in collaboration with Quality Council of India (QCI), has developed the ‘System for Advanced Manufacturing Assessment and Ranking (SAMAR)’ certification, a benchmark to measure the maturity of defence manufacturing enterprises, including MSMEs. During the event, an overview on SAMAR and IT-enabled online model for digitised assessment with geo-tagging and time-stamping were also presented. The DRDO is offering SAMAR to micro and small industries at subsidised cost.

Industry partners from MSMEs & large enterprises as well as start-up entrepreneurs gave presentations on their experience of working with DRDO. They gave valuable suggestions to improve the current procedures and policies and recommended ways for doing ease of business.

DG, Missiles and Strategic Systems Dr B.H.V.S. Narayana Murthy and DG, Production Coordination & Services Interaction Dr Chandrika Kaushik highlighted the need for more synergy with all stakeholders of the defence ecosystem. The event was also attended by Director, Directorate of Quality, Reliability & Safety Vice Admiral Ranjit Singh & directors and scientists of DRDO.

The event provided a unique beginning for Aatmachintan and Manthan during the open brainstorming session and a window of opportunity to the industries to express their challenges, expectations and support needed in the current scenario. Discussions were held to create a redefined framework to further the vision of ease of doing business and facilitate the industry.