Speaking on Defence Research and Development at the two day Deftronics organized by India Electronics and Semiconductors Association (IESA), the Research and Development head of the DRDO Dr S Radhakrishnan said, “Government is to soon announce a policy that whatever technology is available with DRDO can be had at a fixed cost.” This is going to be a revolutionary step in India as many technologies will be picked up by the industry.
Speaking on the occassion, Dr. Ajit T Kalghatgi, Director, R&D, of Bharat Electronics Limited, put it categorically that only the right kind of manpower can bring the right result. He said, “The massive demand in the defence Industry can only see the light of the day with right kind of manpower.” No original equipment manufacturer would part with high end technology he added.
Dr S. Radhakrishnan, Director DIITM DRDO, R&D informed that Defence Acquisition Council has cleared orders to the tune of approximately Rs 2 lakh crore which is all based on the DRDO technology.
Giving the industry perspective, Mr Rahul Chaudhary, CEO TATA POWERSED was candid in saying that “We have a huge capability. If we have to emerge as the largest economy, our aspiration to become a permanent member of the Security Council will not change unless and until we have our own defence capability and R&D.”
“The aspiration of reaching 70 percent manufacturing within the country from the 30 percent of today we need to have started much before,” said Mr Kalghatgi. “If we expect R&D to work today, we should have started much before. Which means we should plan now to get what we wish to achieve in the next decade and for this the capacity has to happen beyond the traditional players, involve the private payers in big way,” he further added.
