The Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme is a flagship programme of Indian Ministry of Defence executed by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) under ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Till date, a total of 70 projects at total cost of Rs 291.25 crore have been sanctioned to various industries and 16 defence technologies have been successfully developed/realised under the scheme.
This information was given by India’s State Minister of Defence Shri Ajay Bhatt in a written reply to Shri Tapir Gao in Lok Sabha on 9th Dec, 2023.
To be noted that the main objectives of the Technology Development Fund scheme are enumerated below:
- To provide Grant in Aid to Indian industries, including MSMEs and Start-ups, as well as academic and scientific institutions for the development of Defence and dual use technologies that are currently not available with the Indian defence Industry.
- To engage with the private industries especially MSMEs and Start-ups to bring in the culture of Design & Development of Military Technology and support them with Grant in Aid.
- To focus on Research, Design & Development of Niche technologies which are being developed for the first time in the country.
- To create a bridge amongst the Armed Forces, research organizations, academia and qualifying/certifying agencies with private sector entities.
- To support the futuristic technologies having a Proof of Concept and converting them into prototype.
Further, the benefits sought to be gained by the scheme are as follows:
- Capacity and capability building of Indian industries for design and development of defence technologies in the country.
- Creation of an ecosystem of R&D where industry and Academia work together to meet the current and futuristic requirement of Armed Forces and defence sector.
- Building of Defence manufacturing ecosystem in country.
- Achieving ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence technology.
Source: https://pib.gov.in/
