There is an urgent requirement of increasing R&D spending in the Indian defence industry which will take the entire industry in the direction of growth, according to the experts. As per the UNESCO Science report which came out in June this year, as far as infrastructure and innovation are concerned, the country’s investment in research remains unsatisfactory.

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Over the last few years, India has witnessed a rapid increase in investment in research and development (R&D). However, according to experts from the defence sector, there is still a need to boost the investments which can evolve into a self-reliant economy. 

In a panel discussion on 'Emerging Private Defence Industry in India: Building Capability through Technology Transfer, Research and Development,' as a part of its 'BW Defence Conclave 2021'. Experts deliberated on the need of putting greater thrust on R&D in Aeropsace and Defence.

The present time is extremely crucial and countries like India need to invest more in research and development (R&D) which is critical in this new decade. The increased investment from the private sector can be vital for the country to become the third-largest economy, as several economic surveys have indicated in the past.

"We try to incorporate R&D with various private industries through our development partner program through Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) and other processes, The industry partners are very valuable to us. The Ministry of Defence, Government of India has launched make one, make two, make three and all these categories along with iDEX etc have also been launched so that industry can be brought so that the R&D. The total canvas for the R&D is how the budget from the public money can be enhanced through the public-private partnership. The budget is certainly required more and DRDO is continuously striving, however, we have to understand the situation of the country too that seeing all the departments, how much budget can be allocated," said Director, Industry Interface and Technology Management (DIITM), DRDO, Dr Mayank Dwivedi. 

We need to see how the aerospace defence technology and also the private industry, how it evolved, mentioned the CEO of Axiscades Engineering Tech, Saradhi Babu while talking about the evolution in the sector. "Almost 15 to 20 years, it used to be a small scale industry that was around the PSU's, HAL, BEL or MDL, BDL all of them. 

Developing components, sub-components and much of the design work happening within the PSUs and R&D was focused within the DRDOs. When we started realising and then the government started promulgating the DPP from 2001 onward and it evolved for more than two decades now. That evolution was very important and policy also kept changing. From 2006 DPP onwards to DPP 2008, 2012, 2016 and DPP 2020 to now. It's a significant evolution that the country has undergone," said Babu. 

As per the UNESCO Science report which came out in June this year, as far as infrastructure and innovation are concerned, the country’s investment in research remains unsatisfactory. 

"Globally most A&D companies tend to invest in R&D. From Raytheon Technologies perspective, I think we are growing close to over 5 billion. Having said that, we have also seen the Indian industry come about a long way by capabilities, investing in tools and training. 

We became big from technology last year after the merger between UTC and Raytheon. Even before that or till 2020, we were the first ones to set up a manufacturing facility with the Tata's. There were no business skills then like 15 years ago. However, from then till 2021, I would say the industry has come a long way in terms of building capabilities and skills that are required to come up to global level," said Samit Ray, who is Regional Director, Govt. Affairs & Public Policy, South Asia, Raytheon Technologies Corporation, India. 

The founder and CEO of Tonbo Imaging, Arvind Lakshmikumar while talking about the Indian perspective and investment in R&D. He said that we set up this business about eight years back. Over 300 crore in R&D is being invested and our focus has been on electro-optics and imaging systems. "Traditionally, all these electro-optics and imaging systems come as dispersed or assembled components from the supplier whether it's LBAT, ITL or Thales. Our focus has been to build all these electro-optics systems. So we are private equity funded and a large number of market venture investors are backing us. We build all these technologies ground out, so over the last eight years, 300 crore investment has gone into it. However, after you build this technology, it’s now that we are seeing that the government is essentially adopting IDDM or specific clauses which helps homegrown companies which have invested in R&D to have good standing," said Lakshmikumar. 

The Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of VEM Technologies P investment, V. Venkata Raju talked about investment in the domestic sector. He said that we have been working with DRDO for a long time now. He also said that when it comes to the indigenously designed, developed and manufactured (IDDM), for example, we are developing an ATGM, it is a huge cost of development and a huge amount of money is involved. We also have to compete with many companies along with that we also have to compete with the government-funded organisations. So this is where we need to do something to give better opportunities to all. 

BW Businessworld organised a panel discussion on 'Emerging Private Defence Industry in India: Building Capability through Technology Transfer, Research and Development,' as a part of its 'BW Defence Conclave 2021' which took place on November 11. The eminent personalities from the industry expressed their thoughts and perspectives during the discussion. The event was moderated by Manish Jha, Associate Editor, BW Businessworld and BW Defence.