Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday unveiled ‘SPRINT Challenges’, which aims to induct 75 new indigenous technologies/products into the Indian Navy to achieve Aatmanirbharta’ as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Inaugurating the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) seminar ‘Swavlamban’ in New Delhi today, PM Modi explained that these new technologies will be inducted by NIIO in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO).
This collaborative project is named SPRINT {Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), NIIO and Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC)}.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said the goal of self-reliance in the Indian defence forces is very important for India of the 21st century. Organizing the first 'Swavlamban' (self-reliance) seminar for a self-reliant Navy is an important step in this direction.
The Prime Minister said that the resolution of creating 75 indigenous technologies in this period of making new resolutions for India is inspiring in itself and he expressed confidence that it will be fulfilled very soon.
Referring to the importance of oceans and coasts in India’s economy, PM Modi said, the role of the Indian Navy is continuously increasing and therefore its self-reliance is of critical importance.
He said like the countries who capitalized on the challenge of the World War to emerge as the big arms exporters, India too turned adversity into opportunity during the Corona period and made strides in economy, manufacturing and science.
He lamented the fact that during the initial decades of the Independence, there was no focus on the development of defence production and research and development was severely limited due it being restricted to the government sector.
“Innovation is critical and it has to be indigenous. Imported goods can’t be a source of innovation”, he said. He also stressed the need for a change in mindset of attraction for imported goods.
The Prime minister said that the self-reliant defence system is critical for the economy and also from the strategic point of view.
He said the country has worked in mission mode to reduce this dependence after 2014. He pointed out that the Government has given new strength to our public sector defence companies by organising them in different sectors.
Today we are making sure that we connect our premier institutions like IITs with defence research and innovation. “Learning from the approach of the past decades, today we are developing a new defence ecosystem with the strength of everyone's efforts. Today defence R&D has been opened for the private sector, academia, MSMEs and start-ups”, he added.
This has led to a new speed in long pending defence projects and the Prime Minister expressed the confidence that the wait for commissioning of the first indigenous aircraft carrier will be over soon.
In the last eight years, the Prime Minister noted that the Government has not only increased the defence budget, “we have also ensured that this budget is useful in the development of the defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country itself. Today, a large part of the budget earmarked for the purchase of defence equipment is being spent on procurement from Indian companies.” He also complemented the defence forces for preparing a list of 300 items that will not be imported.
PM Modi said in the last 4 to 5 years defence imports have come down by about 21 per cent. Today we are moving fast from the biggest defence importer to a big exporter. Last year, Rs 13,000 crore worth of defence export was done with more than 70 percent of which being from the private sector, he pointed out.
The Prime Minister noted that now the threats to national security have also become widespread, the methods of warfare are also changing. Earlier we used to imagine our defence only till land, sea and sky. Now the circle is moving towards space, moving towards cyberspace, moving towards economic, social space.
In such a scenario, the Prime Minister said that we have to move anticipating the future challenges and change ourselves accordingly. Self-reliance will help the country a great deal in this regard, he said.
The Prime Minister warned against the new danger. National defence is no longer limited to borders, but is much broader. Therefore, it is equally necessary to make every citizen aware about it.”
He continued “as we are moving forward with the ‘whole of the government’ approach for a self-reliant India, Similarly, the ‘whole of the Nation’ approach is the need of the hour for the defence of the nation.”
In his address, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “The self-reliance efforts in the defence sector, under the guidance of the Prime Minister, have transformed India’s image and we will soon become a global manufacturing hub,” he said.
He appreciated the Indian Navy for playing a pioneer role in this endeavour by making remarkable progress in surface, sub-surface and air domains; setting up an ‘in-house-ship-design-organisation’ and transforming itself from a ‘Buyer’s Navy’ to a ‘Builder’s Navy’.
The two-day seminar, to be held on July 18-19, 2022, aims to engage Indian industry and academia towards achieving self-reliance in the Defence sector.
