• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled a new version of the procurement manual of the premier military research institute DRDO featuring simplified procedures for involvement of the private sector in various research and development projects.

• The new version of the manual has been brought out to encourage participation of private industry, including startups and micro, small and medium enterprises in defence research in sync with the government’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) initiative.

• All deals, projects and research initiatives in DRDO are guided by the procurement manual.

• The government has already announced its vision to make India a global hub of defence manufacturing, and initiated a series of reform measures to encourage the domestic defence industry.

• The procurement manual-2020 will facilitate faster execution of R&D projects/programmes. The modified features in the manual will go a long way to facilitate participation of industry in various R&D projects.

• The process for extension of the delivery period has been simplified for faster decision making and many of the internal procedures have been further simplified for deeper engagement with industry.

• The previous revision of the procurement manual of the DRDO was last carried out in 2016.

• India is one of the most lucrative markets for global defence giants as it figured among top three importers of military hardware in the world for the last eight years. According to estimates, the Indian armed forces are projected to spend around $130 billion in capital procurement in the next five years. The government is eyeing a turnover of Rs 1.75 lakh crore ($25 billion) in defence manufacturing by 2025.

Defence Research and Development Organisation

DRDO is the research and development wing of the defence ministry. Its vision is to empower India with cutting-edge defence technologies and a mission to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems, while equipping our armed forces with state-of-the-art weapon systems and equipment in accordance with the requirements laid down by the three services.

DRDO was formed in 1958 from the amalgamation of the then already functioning Technical Development Establishment of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production with the Defence Science Organisation. DRDO was then a small organisation with 10 establishments or laboratories. Over the years, it has grown multi-directionally in terms of the variety of subject disciplines, number of laboratories, achievements and stature.

Today, DRDO is a network of more than 50 laboratories that are deeply engaged in developing defence technologies covering various disciplines such as aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, engineering systems, instrumentation, missiles, advanced computing and simulation, special materials, naval systems, life sciences, training, information systems and agriculture. Several major projects for the development of missiles, armaments, light combat aircrafts, radars, electronic warfare systems etc are on hand and significant achievements have already been made in several such technologies.

DRDO’s pursuit of self-reliance and successful indigenous development and production of strategic systems and platforms such as Agni and Prithvi series of missiles, Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, multi-barrel rocket launcher Pinaka, air defence system Akash, etc have given a quantum jump to India’s military might, generating effective deterrence and providing crucial leverage.

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