Rajnath approves enhancement of funding support for development of indigenous equipment

New Delhi, Jun 8 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved enhancement of funding under a DRDO scheme supporting indigenous development of defence equipment to Rs 50 crore per project from existing Rs 10 crore.

The Technology Development Fund scheme of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) supports indigenous development of components, products, systems and technologies by MSMEs and start-ups. “Singh has approved enhancement of funding under Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme of the Ministry of Defence to Rs 50 crore per project from Rs 10 crore,” the ministry said.

In the Union Budget for 2022-23, the government had set aside 25 per cent of the defence R&D budget for private industry, start-ups and academia. “The enhanced funding is in line with the budget announcement and it will give further boost the vision of ‘Aatmanirbharta in defence’,” the ministry said in a statement.

It said the TDF scheme aims to provide a major fillip to the defence manufacturing sector by encouraging the industry to innovate and develop defence  technologies. “The scheme facilitates up to 90 per cent of the total project cost and allows industry to work in consortium with another industry/academia. With the enhanced funding, the industry and startups will be able to develop more complex technologies for existing and future weapon systems and platforms,” it said.

Till date, 56 projects have been sanctioned under the TDF scheme.