Achieving advancement in technology can make India superpower: Rajnath Singh
What's the story
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that if India achieves advancement in the field of technology, it can become a superpower. The minister said this while addressing the students and researchers in Maharashtra's Pune city at the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), a deemed university of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Research
PM committed to making India progressive in research, innovation: Singh
Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to taking the country on the path of progress in research and innovation. "Some initiatives have been started by the Defence Ministry to make progress in research and innovation through collective efforts from armed forces, industries, and academia and it can happen only through mutual understanding and by sharing knowledge and best practices," he said.
New platform
'iDEX' has been created to attract new talent: Singh
Singh said that the Defence Ministry has created a platform called iDEX (innovation for defense excellence) to engage and attract new talent and to get field experience and inputs from the armed forces personnel from the field as it has got security importance. He added that the Centre has allocated Rs. 1,000 crore for iDEX.
Quote
Government allocated Rs. 500cr for research, innovation in aerospace, defense
"Besides allocating money for iDEX, the government has also allocated Rs. 500 crore to push research and innovation in aerospace and defense by supporting 300 startups," the Defence Minister further said.
Hand grenades
Singh spoke about successful delivery of 1 lakh hand grenades
Talking about his recent visit to Nagpur and giving an example of the successful delivery of one lakh hand grenades produced by a private player to the Indian Army in five months, Singh said that the firm had exported similar hand grenades to Indonesia at a higher cost. "The Indian cost for each hand grenade is Rs. 3,400," he said.
Appreciation
Similar grenades were exported to Indonesia at over Rs. 7,000/piece
The private company exported similar grenades to Indonesia at over Rs. 7,000 apiece, Singh said. "My point is that if we achieve advancement in technology, India can become a superpower. It can become a super economic power," he said. Singh also appreciated the efforts of the institutes for taking nine patents in the COVID-19 research area.