Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Defence India Startup Challenge and released the Project Management Approach (PMA) guidelines for iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) during the launch function of Defence India Startup Challenge-4 (DISC4) on Tuesday. This is aimed at encouraging innovation in the defence sector.
Apart from Singh, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat also participated in the event, that had been held via video conferencing.
In the event, the Defence Minister congratulated those responsible for the event’s success, and for creating an environment where participants from various sectors are coming together to promote innovation in defence. “DISC-4 challenge will surge ahead of its earlier editions and promote innovation and development in the country. Similarly iDEX4Fauji initiative will ensure the participation of our personnel in this program,” Singh said.
“In the process of making defence sector strong and self-reliant, we have understood that along with the government sector the private sector too needs to participate in this. We have taken some policy decisions too in this regard. Partnerships with the private sector, technology transfer, 74 per cent FDI approval and the recently released negative list of 101 items are a part of it. We want to promote our private players along with opting for built in the country products,” he added.