Report of Monday Morning Meeting on Technology Development Fund of DRDO: Challenges and Opportunities

Mr. Arvind Khare, IDAS, Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), delivered a presentation on “Technology Development Fund of DRDO: Challenges and Opportunities” at the Monday Morning Meeting held on 23 October 2023. Col. (Dr.) Rajneesh Singh (Retd.), Research Fellow and Coordinator of the Defence Economics and Industry Centre, MP-IDSA, moderated the session. Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy, Director General, MP-IDSA and the scholars of MP-IDSA attended the meeting.

Executive Summary

Mr. Khare highlighted the crux of the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme, a flagship programme of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), being executed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for attaining self-reliance by promoting indigenously developed technologies and to further research and development culture in the private industries in India.

Detailed Report

Col. (Dr.) Rajneesh Singh (Retd.) commenced the meeting by providing some insights on the TDF scheme and placed in context the issue of earmarking 25 per cent of Defence R&D budget for private industry and academia.

Mr.  Arvind Khare noted that the TDF scheme is a Grant - in -  Aid programme and noted that it is a step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence and empowering the defence research and development ecosystem through industrial participation. The presentation provided the chronology of the TDF scheme, the involvement of users in the TDF development process and the benefits of TDF to the industry.

Mr.  Khare then went on to detail the process involved in the flow of funds under the TDF scheme and the criteria for evaluating the projects under TDF. He specified some of the various projects awarded under the scheme, the success stories as well as business opportunities and the future of the TDF scheme. The presentation also enumerated aspects relating to raising fund limit for a TDF project from ₹10 crores to ₹50 crores and earmarking 25 percent Defence R&D budget for funding industry, startups, and academia. The presentation examined aspects relating to technology management and the DRDO. Mr. Khare ended his presentation by pointing out the constraints and challenges in the TDF scheme and suggested some policy insights to overcome those challenges.

Questions and Comments

Discussion in the Q&A session related to the success rate of projects by the DRDO under the scheme, learning of best practices from organisations like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the United States, and flagging of issues relating to scheme implementation, DRDO-private industry interactions, among other issues.

Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy, DG, MP-IDSA, began his remarks by complimenting the Speaker for his presentation on an important subject, and urged all the scholars in MP-IDSA to work more on areas concerning defence and technology. He pointed out that the issues that were discussed by the Speaker were very relevant to Atmanirbharta in Defence manufacturing. The Director General highlighted that it is important for the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), the private sector and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to have a greater technology focus as well as invest in indigenous R&D.

The nature of technology development in the corporate sector role was also flagged, where incubation and innovation centres are established in promising and vital areas for commercial gains and larger public use.

Mr.  Khare responded to the comments and observations made by the Director General and the scholars. He added that the technology that emanates through innovations from projects under the TDF scheme would be a joint property of that industry partner and the DRDO. He also added that there is a need to make TDF scheme more hassle free for industry and startups by streamlining the procedure and continuing with the Grant - in - Aid mode of funding.