Blueprint conclave: 'Looking to build national stock of critical minerals'

“True indigenisation would essentially mean that design and IPR (intellectual property rights)  rest within the country,” Singh said about self-reliance in defence that the government is pushing the sector to achieve. Last year, 88 per cent of capital procurement contracts went to Indian entities, surpassing targets set earlier, he said, adding that reforms under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 will simplify approvals and bolster structured support for startups as well.

“We have to see the public and private sectors as a hybrid dual-use pipeline when it comes to contributing to India’s defence requirements.”

As the conversation revolved around indigenisation a bit more, Singh made the carrot and stick remark to underline the need for quality control. ‘’While we weed out poor manufacturing practices, we also need to incentivise those whose manufacturing quality meets our requirements by allowing them self-certification. Both carrot and stick need to be applied…. Shortage of rare earth, a subject that has come up time and again in the recent past because of global supply chain disruptions, figured in the discussion with the defence secretary as well. Singh urged building an overall “resource security”, including rare earth reserves…. Potential reforms in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) also featured prominently in the fireside chat. Speaking on innovation, he said that in India, if something is given for free, it is “rarely valued”, adding that the DRDO charge nominal royalties for technologies licensed to domestic manufacturers and offer broader access to laboratories and testing facilities. “The monopsony situation will not change. What you can do is create some liberal windows and runways for startups branching out.” 

From defence to space sciences, reform and indigenisation formed a common thread. Narayanan’s wide-ranging conversation with Satarupa Bhattacharjya started off with the strategic importance of satellites for communication, disaster management and surveillance. Responding to a question during the closing session, he said ISRO played an important role during India’s four-day conflict with Pakistan in May. He did not elaborate. “Our responsibility is to ensure the safety and security of every citizen of India,” Narayanan said.

The ISRO chief, who took charge in January, recounted major milestones in India’s space programmes such as the Chandrayaan (lunar) and Mangalyaan (Mars) missions, and touched on plans to build a 52-tonne space station (fully indigenous) by 2035, as well as a moon landing (human spaceflight) by 2040. “Even though lots of people have studied the moon, India is the first country along with the US to find water molecules on the moon,” he said.

Amid clapping and cheer from an engrossed audience, Narayanan said: “Today when I look back, I have to really thank the countries which denied technology to us.” He explained: ‘’Because of that, we, Indians, have developed three cryogenic propulsion systems.” The audience clapped louder.

Besides reform and indigenisation, the startup theme also connected the three lively conversations at the conclave. Bhatia, also president, Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, said during the middle session that a dramatic scale up of India’s startup ecosystem would be good. “Let’s aim for 100,000 startups across defence, aerospace and technology,” Bhatia said in a discussion with Bhaswar Kumar, adding that the country’s engineering talent should be further tapped. “Building defence capability in a nation is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Highlighting the need for faster acquisition to keep pace with technology, he said if a product could be developed between two and five years, its acquisition cycle should not be longer. Else, outdated equipment would be bought by the end users – the armed forces.

The audience couldn’t have asked for more as the discussion with Bhatia wrapped up on a lighter Bollywood note against the backdrop of defence, space and geopolitics narrative.