Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday launched the Acing Development of Innovative Technologies (ADITI) scheme to promote innovations in critical and strategic defence technologies, during DefConnect 2024 here.

Under the scheme, start-ups are eligible to receive grant-in-aid of up to Rs 25 crore for their research, development, and innovation endeavours in defence technology. “The scheme will nurture the innovation of youth, and help the country leap forward in the field of technology,” Mr Singh said as he addressed a gathering of industry leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and policymakers.

The ADITI scheme worth Rs 750 crore for the period 2023-24 to 2025-26 falls under the iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) framework of Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence.

It aims to develop about 30 deep-tech critical and strategic technologies in the proposed timeframe. It also envisages to create a ‘Technology Watch Tool’ to bridge the gap between the expectations and requirements of the modern Armed Forces and the capabilities of the defence innovation ecosystem. In the first edition of ADITI, 17 challenges – Indian Army (3), Indian Navy (5), Indian Air Force (5) and Defence Space Agency (4) – have been launched.

The defence minister voiced Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s unwavering commitment to encourage the youth to bring forth innovative ideas. He asserted that to motivate young innovators, iDEX was expanded to iDEX Prime, with the assistance increasing from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 10 crore. Following the encouraging participation in providing solutions to the challenges given by the Services and DPSUs, the ADITI scheme has now been launched, he said.

He stated that the idea behind the schemes/initiatives such as ADITI, iDEX, iDEX Prime is to also transform India into a knowledge society. “As times are changing, new technologies are coming into existence. To become a developed country, it is necessary for us to achieve a technological edge. We have to transform our country into a knowledge society,” he said.

The event also witnessed the launch of the 11th edition of Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC), heralding a new chapter in the collaboration between the defence establishment and the start-up ecosystem.

Mr Singh described ‘getting a hold on state-of-the-art defence technology’ as the most crucial aspect to achieve self-reliance due to the increasing role of cutting-edge technology in warfare in today’s time. He stated that technology can be mastered either by adopting the latest innovation from other countries or by developing India’s own technology. The government is working on both methods, he stressed.