DRDO to facilitate tech transfer to pvt sector

Terming the alleged irregularities in the Tatra vehicle deal just as an aberration, scientific adviser to the defence minister and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief VK Saraswat on Saturday said that the private industry needs to play an even larger role in meeting the demands of the country’s defence forces going forward.

To facilitate the private sector in becoming a systems developer from being the supplier of components and subsystems for the weapon systems and the strategic arsenal, the DRDO would arrange transfer of technologies, including those used in Agni-V ballistic missiles, Saraswat told reporters. For this, the defence ministry would come up with a suitable policy, he said.

The opportunity for the private industry in the defence sector is very big with the ongoing programmes in DRDO alone valued at Rs 40,000 crore and it will be doubled if all the proposed missions are taken together, according to him.

While the strategic defence development programmes like Agni-V are still a domain of DRDO as the domestic industry has a long way to go in terms of technology and capability, it, however, can straight away take up building of tactical weapon systems such as Akash, he said.

Moreover, the private industry alone could provide the requisite number of Akash and such other tactical weapon systems as the requirement is huge, according to him.

There have been requests from several friendly countries for import of Akash surface-to-air missiles but that can be considered only after meeting the needs of the Indian defence forces, he added.

Pointing to some views on the claim of self-reliance achieved in defence capabilities, Saraswat said it meant independence from controls and the vagaries of the market and not producing every nut and bolt on our own.

“We need to have four-five DRDOs and five times the size of the current industrial infrastructure to meet the requirements of our armed forces within the four walls of our country. And that is where the role of the private sector comes in. R&D also must happen in the industry,” he said.