NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajanth Singh on Tuesday said India is increasingly achieving self-reliance in its defence sector, highlighting initiatives that bolster indigenous defence technologies and operational efficiency within the armed forces.Singh made the remarks while inaugurating the third edition of the Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI 3.0) challenge and the 13th Defence India Start-up Challenges (DISC 13) during the ‘Swavlamban’ seminar hosted by the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.He said that in the last two sessions of ‘Swavlamban’ “Indian Navy has received over 2,000 proposals from Indian industries under the SPRINT challenges, which were unveiled during Swavlamban 1.0 in July 2022.” Furthermore, ‘Swavlamban’ has fostered collaboration with 213 MSMEs and start-ups under iDEX, resulting in acceptance of necessity (go-ahead) of over Rs 2,000 crore in 19 cases.Singh said that these proposals have been converted into 155 challenges, which will help in completing 171 contracts, with contracts worth Rs 784 crore already completed.SPRINT stands for Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through iDEX, Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation and Technology Development Acceleration Cell.The ADITI 3.0 features a challenge from the Indian Navy to design a High-Power Microwave Weapon System. The DISC 13 presents seven challenges — three from Indian Army and two each from Indian Navy and Indian Air Force — in the domains of Artificial Intelligence, military communication and autonomous bots, among others.The Defence Minister said that the changes brought about in the last few years have created an innovative culture in India, keeping national security in mind. “Today we also have a concrete ecosystem, and we are moving rapidly towards self-reliance,” he said. He described the Indian Navy as an innovative Navy, commending its efforts towards achieving self-reliance.Acknowledging the vital contribution of both public and private sectors in realising the vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, Singh reaffirmed the government’s commitment to march ahead on the road to progress by taking all the stakeholders together. “Our public sector was already involved in the defence sector. But, when we came to power, we realised that a bird cannot fly with one wing, and there is a need to strengthen the other wing as well. We are making efforts to increase the participation of the private sector in the defence industrial ecosystem,” he said.Speaking on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi reiterated the Indian Navy’s commitment to safeguard national maritime interests, adding that to facilitate this journey, a resolve has been made to become a “fully Aatmanirbhar force” by 2047.The minister mentioned that through collaborative efforts of Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) and NIIO, 173 challenges presented to the industry by the Navy, including all the 75 challenges launched by the Prime Minister as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahostsav’, have been converted into pragmatic solutions and positive outcomes.ChallengesSPRINT stands for supporting pole-vaulting in R&D through iDEX, naval innovation and indigenisation organisation and technology development acceleration cell. The ADITI 3.0 features a challenge from the Navy to design a high-power microwave weapon system. The DISC 13 presents seven challenges — three from Indian Army and two each from Indian Navy and Indian Air Force — in the domains of Artificial Intelligence, military communication and autonomous bots, among others.
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