Bengaluru: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman played to the gallery on Saturday, hinting that the union government is ready to embrace all ideas that would benefit the armed forces, but also threw open 11 challenges to defence start-ups.

The challenges were basically aimed to be in sync with the ever-changing needs of the defence establishment.

She was speaking at the Defence India Start-up Challenge, which is part of a larger concept christened Innovation for Defence Excellence(iDEX), which is the a new scheme of the government aimed at stitching together an eco-system of innovation and entrepreneurship in the defence sector.

“We are assuring you we are not going to disqualify you for anything you are going to approach us with. Whether it is a bid, tender or a suo moto idea, you are there. If you have got an idea and you have tested with us and the trials are done, you will get the order,” the minister told the gathering of start-up entrepreneurs.

She claimed that gone were the days when ideas got stagnated in the MoD. “You have never had it better. It is for you literally to pound us with all the ideas you have, with all your suo moto proposals. Your ideas will not hibernate with us. We have come to you. We need Indian solutions to problems,” she said.

Hovering around the point that speed is the mantra for MoD now, the minister even wanted the start-ups to help curb imports in the defence sector.

“You can tell us when do you want us to have the trials. We just need not import these things. These are not just nuts and bolts, but top-end items. Today unmanned armed drones are the hot favourites. It is not beyond us to develop them and I am confident we will do it,” she added.

She also emphasised the need for India to focus on space and cyber challenges that need immediate solutions.

“If the space and cyber domains is left to play around with someone, then it is dangerous. We need to focus on technological solutions in these areas as well,” the ministers said.

Initiatives to support start-ups

She also launched three key initiatives - Support for Prototype & Research Kickstart (SPARK), Framework for iDEX partners and promotion of start-ups under Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016.

SPARK is aimed at calling for proposals to address specific technological needs of the armed forces. Those with capability, intent, and promise to be able to produce functional prototypes or to productise existing technologies will receive up to Rs 1.5 crore.

The second initiative promises to work with existing incubators, which would help discover and explore start-ups/MSMEs that can perform the function of co-creation.

Through the DPP initiative, projects with estimated cost of prototype development phase not exceeding Rs 3 crore have been reserved for start-ups and no separate technical or financial criteria are needed for their participation.

11 gen-next challenges

The event also threw open 11 challenges to start-ups over a period of time. These are mainly critical systems, much of it being imported now to support various defence programmes.

They include:

• Individual protection system with built-in sensors

• See-through armour

• Carbon fibre winding

• Active protection system

• Secure hardware-based offline device for graded security

• Development of 4G-based tactical LAN

• Development of advanced desalination system

• Water Purification and bilge oily water separation system

• Artificial Intelligence in logistics

• Remotely-piloted airborne vehicles

• Laser weaponry

• Unmanned surface and underwater vehicles

MoUs were also signed with incubators including the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (IIM Ahmedabad), Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIT-Bombay),

T-Hub (Hyderabad) and FORGE, a branded incubation enterprise launched by the Coimbatore Innovation & Business Incubator (CIBI) and IIT Madras.

Defence land to be swapped

Earlier on Saturday, Nirmala Sitharaman held a meeting with Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy to discuss issues linked to the swapping of defence land.

Ten proposals of the Karnataka government involving transfer and licence of defence land for public infrastructure projects were agreed in principle.

The Karnataka government will now provide suitable, equal value land for the MoD in this swap deal so as to the complete the infrastructure projects in a time-bound manner.

A task force will also be set up to resolve all pending land related issues.

Aero India hangs in balance

With the news of the next edition of Aero India likely to fly out of Bengaluru, Nirmala Sitharaman played it safe by saying that the MoD has ‘not taken’ any decision in this regard.

“Many states have been demanding that air show be held at their cities,” the minister claimed.

“I don’t know where the news is spreading. We have not taken any decision yet. We are aware of the time required for preparations. We will take a call soon,” she said.

The Karnataka CM requested the defence minister not to shift the ‘Plane Carnival’ out of Bengaluru. The biennial show was scheduled for February 2019 and all the 11 editions were held at Air Force Station in Yelahanka.