Lok Sabha Question No. 554 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Space Defence Mission
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Sukanta Majumdar, Bhola Singh

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 554

TO BE ANSWERED ON 09 th  December, 2022

## SPACE DEFENCE MISSION

554.  SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BHAIYA): SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR: DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government has launched the Space Defence Mission to develop innovative solutions for Defence forces through industry and start-ups;
- (b)  if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether the Government has identified75 challenges in the space sector for private firms to work on, based on defence requirements in the space domain;
- (d)  if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)  other steps being taken by the Government for strengthening of Indian Defence System?

## A  N  S  W  E  R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(SHRI AJAY BHATT)

(a) to (e):  Mission DefSpace was launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister during DefExpo in October, 2022 with 75 Defence Space Challenges relevant to the end users. These challenges have been categorised into existing DDP initiatives of iDEX, Make-I and Make-2. Private Industries, including Start-ups, MSMEs and Individual Innovators, are eligible to apply. The challenges, classified into five buckets viz. Launch System, Satellite System, Communication & Payload System, Ground System and Software System, provide a holistic 360 0 overview of space.

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, there by promoting self-reliance in defence manufacturing & technology in the country.  These  initiatives,  inter-alia,  include  according  priority  to  procurement  of  capital items

from domestic sources under Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020; Announcement of 18  major  defence  platforms  for  industry  led  design  &  development  in  March  2022; Notification of four 'Positive Indigenization Lists' of total 411 items of Services and three 'Positive  Indigenization  Lists'  of  total  3738  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  for  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; and Progressive increase in allocation of Defence Budget of military modernization for procurement from domestic sources, etc.

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