• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore for Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) - Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) for the next five years. 

• The defence ministry said the funds will be used to provide financial support to nearly 300 startups, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and individual innovators with a larger goal of ensuring self-reliance in the defence sector. 

• The scheme is in sync with the government’s push to cut imports of military hardware and weapons and make India a hub for defence manufacturing.

What is the purpose of iDEX?

• Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) is a scheme formulated in collaboration with Startup India and Atal Innovation Mission, with the objective of bringing startups to innovate, develop technology and solve problems related to defence and aerospace. 

• It was launched on April 12, 2018. 

• It aims to create an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace by engaging industries including MSMEs, startups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia and provide them grants/funding and other support to carry out R&D. 

• It is expected that India can take advantage of its vibrant startup ecosystem to develop technologies related to defence and aerospace. 

What is DIO?

• iDEX is being implemented by Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), a SPV floated for this purpose with Rs 50 crore support each from Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). 

• DIO has entered into strategic partnerships with leading incubators of the country and undergone international collaborations, especially with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) in the US.

Significance of the programme

• India is the world’s largest defence equipment importer and is expected to spend around $220 billion in the coming decade to modernise its armed forces.

• The iDEX-DIO has the primary objective of self-reliance and indigenisation in the defence and aerospace sector.

• The setting up of the iDEX framework and establishment of the DIO by the Department of Defence Production (DDP) is aimed at creating an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in the defence and aerospace sector. 

• The scheme is aimed at providing financial support to startups/MSMEs/individual innovators and 20 partner incubators under the DIO framework. 

• The DIO will enable the creation of channels for innovators to engage and interact with the Indian defence production industry. 

The scheme aims to:

• Facilitate rapid development of new, indigenised and innovative technologies for the Indian defence and aerospace sector to meet their needs in shorter timelines.

• Create a culture of engagement with innovative startups to encourage co-creation for defence and aerospace.

• Empower a culture of technology co-creation and co-innovation within the defence and aerospace sector and boost innovation among the startups and encourage them to be a part of the ecosystem.

How will the scheme be implemented?

• The DDP will release funds to DIO for setting up and managing the iDEX network in the form of Partner Incubators (PIs).

• Communicating with innovators/startups/technology centres of MSMEs through the PIs including the PIs of Department of Science and Technology regarding defence and aerospace needs. 

• Organising various challenges/hackathons to shortlist potential technologies and entities and evaluating technologies and products developed by innovators/startups in terms of their utility and impact on the defence and aerospace setup. 

• The other activities include enabling and funding pilots using innovation funds dedicated to the purpose.

• Interfacing with the Armed Forces top brass about key innovative technologies and encouraging their adoption into the defence establishment with suitable assistance.

• Facilitating scale-up, indigenisation and integration in manufacturing facilities for successfully piloted technologies and organising outreach activities across the country.

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