Lok Sabha Question No. 941 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-25
Subject: Technology Development Fund Scheme
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: Shri Naveen Jindal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEFENCE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 941

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 th  July, 2025

## TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FUND SCHEME

## 941. SHRI NAVEEN JINDAL:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has approved the new Deep Tech and Cutting-Edge policies under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) Scheme, if so, the details thereof along with their key features/objectives;
- (b) the number of private sector entities including startups and MSMEs received funds through these policies during the last two years along with the nature of technologies supported;
- (c)  the  details  of  projects  undertaken  through  the  15  DRDO  Industry  Academia Centres of Excellence (DIA-CoEs), State-wise and institution-wise and the  specific  futuristic research areas being covered;
- (d) the details of mechanisms to monitor the progress and outcomes of projects supported under DIA-CoEs and TDF; and
- (e)  whether  the  Government  has  any  future  plans  to  expand  the  network  of  DIA-CoEs  to introduce additional support measures for faster indigenisation of critical defence technologies and if so, the details thereof?

## A  N  S  W  E  R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(SHRI SANJAY SETH)

- (a) Yes, Sir. An additional grant or Corpus of Rs 500 Cr has been approved by Hon'ble Raksha Mantri to cater for Deep-tech and cutting edge projects as separate verticals under TDF.
- (b) The process of the selection and identification of Deep Tech projects has been initiated. Currently,  09  projects  are  launched  under  this  initiative  by  TDF  and  09  industries  are engaged in 04 projects sanctioned through DIA-CoEs under the Grants in Aid Scheme of DRDO.

- (c) Projects are covering the research areas like Powder Metallurgy, High Power Microwave Sources  &  Devices  ,  Advanced  Ballistics,  Smart  and  Intelligent  Textile  Technology, Photonic  Technologies,  Aerospace  Systems  and  Materials,  Micro  and  Nano  Systems Science & Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Quantum Technology, Naval Systems and Naval Technologies, High Power CW Laser Source, Additive Manufacturing, Advanced Materials & Processing, Aero Engine, Desert Warfare Technologies, AI for Information and War-gaming Technologies, Advanced Nano Materials, Sensors based on Semiconductors etc.  List of Institute involved is Attached as Appendix 'A' .
- (d) DRDO  has  Long  Term  Directed  Research  Policy  (LTDRP)  for  engaging  academia. Projects are monitored at three stages in regular intervals throughout the year. Technical evaluation  committee  (TEC)  evaluates  the  new  project  proposals  and  does  regular technical progress monitoring. Research Advisory Board (RAB) reviews the new projects recommended  by  TEC  and  also  monitors  sanctioned  projects  for  their  progress  and addresses the techno managerial issues of Centre of Excellence (CoE) and the projects. Governing Council approves the projects, oversees the overall functioning of the Centre and projects sanctioned through the Centre.

The awarded projects under TDF scheme to various industries are guided & monitored regularly by Project Monitoring and Mentoring Group (PMMG) as per milestones till the completion of the projects. A Technical Committee (TC) Meeting chaired by Director General  (Technology  Management)  (DGTM)  held  every  month  and  Empowered Committee (EC) meeting chaired by Secretary DDR&D and Chairman DRDO held once in four months to monitor the progress of the awarded projects. Trials and Certification are  conducted  to  monitor  the  outcome  of  the  projects.  DRDO  regularly  interacts  with Services & DPSUs for informing them about all new Deep tech projects and their progress so that they can be utilised.

- (e) The existing centres are in the process of getting stabilized and matured for the outcome driven research projects. Considerable efforts are being put by to bring the existing centres into the fold of industry and  academic  collaborative  research.  The  new  centres commissioned in 2022 are still streamlining the research for defence oriented practical outcomes. In view of this, there are no immediate plans to establish new DIA-CoEs, but in order to expand the collaborative research, projects can be explored through any of the established DIA-CoEs. Faculty from any of the academic institutes can send the concept notes or research proposal on the common R&D interest areas of DRDO to the any of the existing DIA-CoEs.

## Appendix 'A'

|   SI. No. | State             | Institute of PI                                                                                    | Institute of Co-PI                                                  |   No of Projects Sanctioned |
|-----------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh    | IIT Tirupati                                                                                       |                                                                     |                           1 |
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh    | GITAM University                                                                                   |                                                                     |                           1 |
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh    | College of Engineering Andhra University Vishakhapatnam                                            |                                                                     |                           1 |
|         2 | Arunachal Pradesh | Central Agricultural University, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh                                       | Pacchunga University College, Aizawl (01)                           |                           1 |
|         3 | Assam             | IIT Guwahati                                                                                       | Assam University, State Public Health Lab, Assam Mizoram University |                           2 |
|         3 | Assam             | CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat                                                                                 | IIT Jammu(01)                                                       |                           4 |
|         4 | Delhi             | IIT Delhi                                                                                          | AIIMS (01), IIIT Delhi (01)                                         |                          56 |
|         5 | Gujarat           | Gujarat University                                                                                 |                                                                     |                           2 |
|         5 | Gujarat           | SVNIT, Surat                                                                                       | C K Pithawala , Surat(01)                                           |                           1 |
|         6 | Jammu and         | IIT Jammu                                                                                          |                                                                     |                           2 |
|         6 | Kashmir           | Central University, Jammu(CUJ)                                                                     |                                                                     |                           7 |
|         7 | Jharkhand         | IIM Ranchi                                                                                         |                                                                     |                           1 |
|         8 | Karnataka         | IISc Bengaluru                                                                                     | CoEP Pune(01), IIT Madras (01), NAL Bengaluru (01)                  |                          36 |
|         8 | Karnataka         | National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru                                           |                                                                     |                           2 |
|         8 | Karnataka         | NIT Surthakal                                                                                      | ARCI Hyderabad(01), CGC RI Kolkata(01)                              |                           1 |
|         8 | Karnataka         | IIT Dharwad                                                                                        |                                                                     |                           1 |
|         9 | Madya Pradesh     | Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (ABV-IIITM) Gwalior |                                                                     |                           1 |
|        10 | Maharashtra       | IIT Bombay                                                                                         |                                                                     |                          16 |
|        10 | Maharashtra       | DIAT Pune                                                                                          |                                                                     |                           2 |
|        11 | Meghalaya         | NIT Meghalaya                                                                                      | NIT Manipur                                                         |                           1 |
|        12 | Mizoram           | Mizoram University                                                                                 | NIT, Nagaland (01)                                                  |                          10 |
|        12 | Mizoram           | NIT Mizoram                                                                                        |                                                                     |                           1 |

| 13    | Orissa        | IIT Bhubaneshwar                                         |                                    |   1 |
|-------|---------------|----------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|-----|
| 14    | Rajasthan     | IIT Jodhpur                                              | IIEST Shibpur(01), IIT Kanpur (01) |   6 |
| 15    | Tamil Naidu   | IIT Madras                                               | IIT Jodhpur(01)                    |  45 |
| 15    | Tamil Naidu   | IITDM, Tamil Naidu                                       |                                    |   1 |
| 15    | Tamil Naidu   | National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli  |                                    |   2 |
| 15    | Tamil Naidu   | Sri Sivasubramaiya Nadar college of Engineering, Chennai |                                    |   1 |
| 16    | Telangana     | IIT Hyderabad                                            | IIT Madras (01)                    |  30 |
| 16    | Telangana     | University of Hyderabad                                  |                                    |   2 |
| 16    | Telangana     | CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad  |                                    |   2 |
| 16    | Telangana     | IIIT Hyderabad                                           |                                    |   1 |
| 16    | Telangana     | IDRBT, Hyderabad                                         |                                    |   1 |
| 17    | Tripura       | NIT, Agartala                                            | Mizoram University(01)             |   1 |
| 18    | Uttar Pradesh | IIT BHU                                                  | University of Hyderabad (01)       |  13 |
| 18    | Uttar Pradesh | IIT Kanpur                                               |                                    |  16 |
| 19    | Uttarakhand   | IIT Roorkee                                              |                                    |   9 |
| 20    | West Bengal   | CSIR-CGCRI Kolkata                                       |                                    |   4 |
| 20    | West Bengal   | Jadavpur University                                      |                                    |   5 |
| 20    | West Bengal   | CSIR-CMERI Durgapur                                      | NIT Durgapur (01)                  |   6 |
| 20    | West Bengal   | NIT Durgapur                                             |                                    |   2 |
| 20    | West Bengal   | ISI, Kolkata                                             |                                    |   1 |
| 20    | West Bengal   | IIT Kharagpur                                            |                                    |   3 |
| Total | Total         | 55 Unique Institutes                                     | 55 Unique Institutes               | 302 |

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