Govt mulls to invest Rs 5,300 cr in DRDO projects

The government is planning to invest Rs 5,300 crore in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) projects for upgrading existing facilities and setting up new ones for various programmes, Lok Sabha was informed today.

"The government proposes to make the following major infrastructure investment of Rs 5,300 crore for DRDO programmes over the next five years," Defence Minister A K Antony said in a written reply to a query in the House.

The projects include setting up a new Aeronautical Test Range for Rs 1,300 crore, Aerostat Test Range for Rs 500 crore, Electronic Warfare test range for another Rs 500 crore, he added.

The minister said the programmes and projects are likely to be completed in the next three to ten years period depending on various government clearances and other procedures.

Meanwhile, answering another query, the minister said the total value of products and technologies produced and developed by the premier defence research agency was around Rs 1,12,000 crore.

DRDO has developed several indigenous defence equipment including the Indigenously-designed and developed missile systems, anti-ballistic missile shield, Arjun Main Battle Tank (MBT), the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and the Airborne Early Warning and Control systems.