Lok Sabha Question No. 3245 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-05
Subject: Research and Development in Defence Manufacturing
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: Midhun Reddy, Sanjeev Kumar Singari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

## DEFENCE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3245

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05 th  August, 2022

## RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN DEFENCE MANUFACTURING

3245. SHRI P.V. MIDHUN REDDY: DR. SANJEEV KUMAR SINGARI:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  enhance  Research  and  Development  in  defence manufacturing;
- (b)  the  details  of  various  research  operations  taken  up  by  defence  organisations  under  the Ministry  during  the  last  three  years  along  with  the  amount  sanctioned  and  utilised  for  the research operations; and

(c) the steps taken by the Government to promote public and private sector partnerships in the defence industry?

## A  N  S  W  E  R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(SHRI AJAY BHATT)

(a):  The steps taken by the Government to enhance Research and Development in defence manufacturing are as follows:

-  DRDO  has  introduced  a  policy  on  selection  of  the  Development  cum Production  Partner  (DcPP)  for  DRDO  developed  systems,  which  ensures involvement of industries from the beginning of development cycle and lead to reduction in the time-frame of the development-to-induction cycle.
-  DRDO  has  promulgated  new  Transfer  of  Technology  (ToT)  policy  and procedure  with  'Nil'  ToT  fee  for  its  industry  partners  Development  cum Production  Partners  (DcPP)/  Production  Agency  (PA)  and  'Nil'  royalty  for supply to Indian Armed Forces and Govt. Deptt. This will enhance capabilities and  competitiveness  of  Indian  industries  in  global  market.  This  will  also provide further boost  to  Indian  industries  in  defence  manufacturing sector  to achieve higher self-reliance.
-  DRDO has promulgated new patent policy to facilitate Indian industries to get free  access  to  use  DRDO  patents.  This  will  provide  an  access  to  Indian industries  to  the  innovations  carried  out  by  DRDO  to  further  boost  up  their R&D and develop new technologies.

-  DRDO has  launched  Technology  Development  Fund  (TDF)  which  provides financial  support  to  the  Indian  industries  including  MSMEs  &  Startups  for design  &  development  of  innovative  defence  products.  It  provides  funding through the means of grants-in-aid  to design &  develop technologies for the systems, components and weapons utilized by Armed Forces. TDF contributes towards shaping an enabling environment  for  nurturing innovation and boosting the development of indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem.

(b):  The details of projects and amount sanctioned for utilization under various R&D projects at DRDO during the last three years are as follows:-

(Rs. in crore)

| Year                 |   No of Projects sanctioned | Amount    |
|----------------------|-----------------------------|-----------|
| 2019                 |                          81 | 4895.86   |
| 2020                 |                          88 | 4031.7    |
| 2021                 |                          74 | 19978.90  |
| Jan 2022 - Till date |                          39 | 9078.91   |
| Total                |                         282 | 37,985.37 |

- (c):  The Government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few years and brought in reforms to encourage indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment, thereby promoting self-reliance in defence manufacturing & technology in the country. Some of the important steps are as follows:
-  According priority  to procurement of capital items from domestic sources under Defence  Acquisition  Procedure  (DAP)-2020.  The  announcement  of  18  major defence platforms for industry led design & development in March 2022.
-  Notification of three 'Positive Indigenization Lists' of total 310 items of Services and  two  'Positive  Indigenization  Lists'  of  total  2958  items  of  Defence  Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timelines indicated against them.
-  Simplification of Industrial licensing process with longer validity period.
-  Liberalization of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy allowing 74% FDI under automatic route.
-  Simplification of Make Procedure, Launch of Innovations of Defence Excellence (iDEX)  scheme  involving  startups  &  micro,  small  and  medium  enterprises (MSMEs).
-  Implementation of Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017.
-  Launch of an Indigenization portal namely SRIJAN to facilitate indigenization by Indian Industry including MSMEs

-  Reforms  in  Offset  policy  with  thrust  on  attracting  investment  and  transfer  of Technology for Defence manufacturing by assigning higher multipliers
-  Establishment of two Defence Industrial Corridors, one each in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
-  Opening up of Defence Research& Development (R&D) for industry, startups and academia with 25 percent of defence R&D budget.
-  Progressive increase in allocation of Defence budget of Military modernization for procurement from domestic sources, etc.

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