Lok Sabha Question No. 3904 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-25
Subject: Development of Advanced Technologies for Military
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: Jagdambika Pal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE PRODUCTION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3904

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 TH  MARCH, 2022

## DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES FOR MILITARY

3904. SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

Will the Minister of Defence be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of investment made by the Government to fund research and subsidize companies involved in strategic fields or to involve the private firms, universities and States Governments for working with military in developing advanced technologies;
- (b) whether the Government is planning to develop any policy for the defence sector oriented towards Artificial Intelligence or the other advanced technologies and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  there  is  any  military-to-military  partnership  programs  for  developing  advanced technologies for military between India and China;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the details of weapons imported from China, if any; and
- (e)  whether  the  Government  has  taken/proposed  any  steps  to  increase  the  bilateral  or  multilateral  engagement  with  foreign  militaries  including  Russia,  Japan,  and  the  Association  of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in terms of improving/developing Artificial Intelligence for the Military and if so, the details thereof?

## A  N  S  W  E  R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(SHRI AJAY BHATT)

(a ): Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) funds directed research through its DRDO Industry Academia Centre-of Excellence (DIA-COE), in the identified research areas. DRDO  has  established  10  Centers  of  Excellence  in  collaboration  with  various  academia institutes all over the country to develop critical technology for enabling futuristic requirements of  Armed  Forces.    DRDO  also  funds  research  under  its  various  Grant-in-Aid  Scheme  to undertake  research  in  the  fields  of  Aeronautics,  Armaments,  Naval  and  Life  Sciences  to strengthen funded research.  Details are as under:

| Name of Directorate of DRDO   |   No. of Projects |   Total Cost (Rs. In Cr) |   No. of Academic Institutes involved in the Projects |
|-------------------------------|-------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| DFTM                          |               136 |                      642 |                                                    20 |
| DER&IPR                       |              1288 |                     1160 |                                                   276 |
| NRB                           |               490 |                      150 |                                                   142 |
| ARMREB                        |               258 |                       75 |                                                    96 |
| AR&DB                         |              2031 |                      339 |                                                   150 |
| LSRB                          |               384 |                      105 |                                                   141 |

Further,  the  Technology  Development  Fund  (TDF)  Scheme  also  funds  industries, especially - Start-ups and MSMEs upto an amount of Rs. 10 Crore, for innovation, research and development of defence Technologies in the field of defence and Aerospace.  Additionally, for projects costing less than Rs. 01 (One) Cr, the funding is provided to start-ups only.  Till now, Forty-One (41) projects have been awarded under TDF scheme to various Indian MSMEs, Startups and large industries amounting to total projects cost of approx. Rs. 205 Cr.

Additionally, Make-I procedure of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) -2020 provides for financial support upto 70% of prototype development cost or maximum Rs. 250 crore per Development Agency (DA).

An innovation ecosystem for Defence titled Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) has been launched in April 2018. iDEX is aimed at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and  technology  development  in  Defence  and  Aerospace  by  engaging  Industries  including MSMEs,  Start-ups,  Individual  Innovators,  R&D  institutes  and  Academia  and  provide  them grants/funding and other support to carry out R&D which has potential for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace needs. Till date, 66 contracts have been signed with iDEX winners including  start-ups  and  MSMEs  (Micro,  Small  &  Medium  Enterprises)  for  realization  of production ready prototypes.

(b):  A  Task  Force  has  been  constituted  to  assess  the  current  Artificial  Intelligence  (AI) capabilities and necessary steps for inclusion of AI in Defence.  Based on the recommendation of the  aforesaid  Task  Force,  Ministry  of  Defence  through  an  Executive  Order  dated  08.02.2019 created Defence AI Council (DAIC) under the Chairmanship of Rakhsa Mantri and Defence AI Project  Agency  (DAIPA)  with  Secretary  (DP)  as  ex-officio  head  for  providing  necessary guidance to  enable  and  effect  development  of  operating  framework,  policy  level  changes  and structural support for AI adoption.

DRDO  also  has  two  dedicated  laboratories,  Centre  for  Artificial  Intelligence  and Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru and DRDO Young Scientist Laboratory (DYSL)-AI, Bengaluru for application oriented research in AI.  All DRDO system Laboratories have AI technology groups to  introduce  AI  features  in  products  under  development.  CAIR  has  been  mandated  to  nurture Start-ups in AI. Further, an AI roadmap has also been finalised for each DPSU under which 61 defence specific AI projects have been identified for development. Out of these 61 projects, 26 projects have been completed by the DPSUs.

(c) to (e):  These details cannot be divulged in the interest of National Security.

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