BENGALURU: Making a strong case for startups in the country contributing to the defence sector, senior bureaucrat and Secretary Defence Production Ajay Kumar on Monday cautioned that in war, there are no runners up.
“The best wins. If we are left playing catch-up, do we really hope to be the best?” he said.
He was talking about the urgent need for innovation in India's defence set-up which according to him, was playing catch-up for the longest time, instead of being at the forefront of innovation. Kumar was addressing a gathering of startups at the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC) outreach meet.
"We have taken steps and started this journey. No country can be completely sovereign without being self-reliant for its defence needs. There are some limitations to the present setup," he said.
Taking the example of the T72 and T90 tanks operated by the Indian army, Kumar said while the engines for both tanks had been successfully indigenised, it was not possible to upgrade the T72 tank by installing the 1000HP engine of the T90 tank manufactured locally as the form factor was different. "We cannot make those changes locally to the engine and so will have to go in for technology transfer again," he said.
Kumar also invited startups to participate in next year's Aero India air show, to be held in the city between February 20 and 24.
He said the Ministry of Defence is open to suggestions on how startups could be incorporated as an integral part of the biennial air show. "Aero India will not be successful unless you (startups) are there. This is beyond a mere invitation. We want to focus and highlight the startup capability of India in aerospace. Please send us your suggestions and we will incorporate these in a larger startup event we plan to hold alongside Aero India," he told the gathering.