Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday suggested to the Defence Research And Development Organisation (DRDO) to onboard start-ups in its R&D efforts and tasked that each of its lab should identify 2-3 critical projects for completing them this year.

“By the next foundation year, we should have 100 such projects completed,” the Defence Minister said.

He visited DRDO Headquarters in national capital, and interacted with senior scientists and officials to mark the 67th Foundation Day of the organisation. Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth also attended the meeting.

On engaging start-ups, he said this would promote valuable exchange of ideas and provide an opportunity for the Indian defence sector to come out with innovative technologies according to the changing times. He expressed that each lab should organise two open days every month for interaction with the industry, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The Minister also suggested that laboratories can raise awareness about the works being carried out by the DRDO and motivate the youth to contribute to nation building.

“DRDO can play the role of a catalyst for other similar organisations, academia, industry, etc., which can help in bringing a technological revolution in the country. A new ecosystem can be created, which focusses on defence as well as dual-technology areas, that can bring about a transformative change for civilian users,” advocated Singh.

‘Year of Reforms’

On 2025 being declared as the ‘Year of Reforms’, Rajnath Singh asserted the DRDO to play a crucial role in achieving the set objectives and continue moving ahead in sync with the rapidly-evolving technological ecosystem, the Ministry of Defence said.

Singh appreciated the efforts of DRDO towards increasing the collaboration with the private sector, including providing its technologies and free access to its patents.

He was of the view that the organisation should identify more such areas, which can enhance the participation of the private sector.

During the meeting, the MoD stated that Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat briefed the Defence Minister about the ongoing R&D activities and achievements of DRDO in 2024, and the roadmap of DRDO for 2025.

So far 1,950 Transfer of Technologies (ToTs) on DRDO-developed systems have been handed over to Indian industries, Kamat said. Of this, 256 Licensing Agreements for ToTs were signed with Indian industries in 2024, he pointed out.

The DRDO Chairman added that more than 19 Development cum Production Partners/Production Agencies were chosen last year for Mission Mode projects. The DRDO test facilities have been opened to the industries for utilisation and over 18,000 tests have been carried out for private industries/DPSUs in the past three years with more than 5,000 tests in 2024 itself.

Rajnath Singh also felicitated the design team of Long Range Hypersonic Anti Ship Missile on the occasion.