Atmanirbhar push: Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi for innovation in defence products

In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi urged the private sector to embrace innovation in order to play a key role in the Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance India) initiative. The Prime Minister praised the military for bringing Atmanirbhar Bharat into the realm of technological innovation, expressing his confidence that "India can make for the world."

According to the Prime Minister, in self-reliant India, innovation becomes the responsibility of every citizen, every government, and every unit of society. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) had launched a scheme called "Innovations for Defence Excellence" (iDEX) to fund micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups that had submitted blueprints for innovative projects. In New Delhi last month, iDEX signed its 100th contract with Pacify Medical Technologies. Through the government's actions, the expenditure on defence procurement from foreign sources, which used to be 46% of total expenditure, has been reduced to 36% in the last four years (2018-19 to 2021-22), the MoD stated in Parliament last month.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.