The limit of funding of innovative defence projects under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) has been raised on Wednesday to ₹50 crore per project, from the present limit of ₹10 crore, reported Business Standard.
The TDF scheme, executed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), supports indigenous development of components, products, systems and technologies by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and start-ups.
To facilitate increased funding for innovative TDF products, the Union Budget for 2022-23 has reserved 25 per cent of the defence R&D budget for private industry, start-ups and academia.
“The enhanced funding is in line with the budget announcement and it will further boost the vision of ‘Aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) in defence,” said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a statement.
“The scheme aims to provide a major fillip to the defence manufacturing sector by encouraging the industry to innovate and develop defence technologies in order to place India on the self-reliance trajectory. The scheme facilitates up to 90 per cent of the total project cost and allows industry to work in consortium with another industry/academia.”
“With the enhanced funding, the industry and start-ups will be able to develop more complex technologies for existing and future weapon systems and platforms. Till date, 56 projects have been sanctioned under TDF scheme,” said the MoD.