Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) organised an ‘Anusandhaan Chintan Shivir’ in Delhi on Tuesday, with the aim to encourage Defence R-D within the industry and academia.

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan was the Chief Guest at the event. A list of 75 technology priority areas was released on the occasion. The list identified by the DRDO is further divided into 403 technological categories, which further spread out to 1,295 current and future technology development tasks, the Ministry of Defence stated.

“Unveiling the 75 technology priority areas will provide a major fillip to the defence manufacturing sector by encouraging the industry to indigenise and innovate on defence technologies in order to place India on the self-reliance trajectory; thereby, promoting military technology design and development in the country through engagement with industry and academia,” they further said.

It further said, the DRDO Technology Foresight 2023 listing all areas, categories and technology development activities were also unveiled. The document identifies the technology areas on which various laboratories of DRDO are currently working.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief of Defence Staff complimented the DRDO for organising the ‘Anusandhaan Chintan Shivir’ and stressed the importance of indigenous defence technologies for the Armed Forces.

In his address, Secretary Department of Defence R-D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat stated that the DRDO, Industry and Academia should work in synergy to take the technologies from low to advanced levels where they can be taken up for bulk production.

Director General (Technology Management) Dr Subrata Rakshit, Director IIT Delhi Prof. Rangan Banerjee and Executive VP L-T Shri Arun Ramchandani provided DRDO, Academia and Industry perspectives on Defence R-D during the Shivir.

Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) Lt General Johnson P Mathew, DG (Admin) Air Headquarters Air Marshal PK Ghosh, senior officers of Ministry of Defence, scientists from DRDO, industry leaders and academia experts were also present.

The Ministry further said that the DRDO with its network of laboratories and centres is deeply engaged in the development of defence technologies covering various disciplines, like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles, engineering systems, instrumentation, missiles, advanced computing simulation, special materials, naval systems, life sciences, training information systems and modern agriculture technologies.

Achieving self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems through the development of state-of-the-art weapon systems and equipment is one of the core activities of DRDO. DRDO has been interacting with various Defence ecosystem stakeholders to foster Industry and Academia cooperation to develop new technologies, it stated.