Navy Chief Advocates For Private Sector Leadership In India's Semiconductor Policy

Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on Monday said India's semiconductor policy is important to improve India's defence manufacturing and asked the private sector to take the lead in order to make the country self-reliant. Speaking at an event here, the admiral also said the policy is essentially 'new oil for the economy'.

The Ministry of Defence has set aside Rs 450 crore this year for the Innovation for Defence Excellence scheme, which aims to help startups and small and medium enterprises innovate, he said.

"The MoD has earmarked 75 per cent of our modernisation budget for the defence industry, which is almost Rs 1 lakh crore. And out of that, 25% has been earmarked for the private defence industry in this budget. This year, Rs 450 crore has been successfully allocated for iDEX scheme. Since its inception in 2018, the iDEX has signed almost 400 contracts,'" he said.

"There are positive expectations from the semiconductor policy, especially for the technology-driven Navy. This new policy will certainly benefit both the civilian and the defence sectors. It is, essentially new oil for the economy. The new policies provide grants of up to Rs 1.5 crore for small projects, while the Aditi scheme offers funding of up to Rs 25 crore for niche technologies," Admiral Tripathi said.

He called for collaboration with industry leaders to meet the Navy's future technology needs, adding that the force wanted to 'fully involve and work with you'.

Highlighting the Navy's new approach to working with industry, Tripathi said, "We have shifted from being customers to collaborators, from merchants to partners." He said task forces have been set up to approach industry, understand the technologies on offer, the time frame and imbibe the things that are lacking currently.