Raise R&D spending to promote indiginisation in defence: Navy Chief

Hyderabad: The expenditure on Research and Development (R&D) needs to be enhanced in the country for promoting innovation to achieve larger goals of indeginisation in the defence sector, Navy Chief Admiral D K Joshi said here on Friday. "R&D in any industry and more so in the defence sector is resource-intensive. Currently, India spends only about 0.9 percent of its GDP on R&D, compared to about three per cent by developed countries," he said, delivering the key note address at a seminar named `Swavalamban` on `Indeginisation through innovation in Indian defence sector` jointly organised by the College of Defence Management (CDM) and Indian School of Business (ISB) here. Noting that private sector accounts for a major share of the total R&D funding in many developed countries, he observed that private sector`s contribution is only around 25 per cent of the total R&D expenditure. The country`s success in becoming a major power mainly hinges on the ability to innovate, indigenise and develop critical technologies, he said. Observing that India possessed a great culture of innovation since the ancient times, he said the country possessed about 27 percent of the world`s GDP in the year 1700 and the naval dockyard at Lothal and Nalanda as well Taxila universities bear testimony to the spirit of innovation. Given the sheer size of India`s armed forces and the diverse range of capabilities that needs to be developed, the involvement of private sector augurs well for capacity creation, he said. The vast talent pool of young Indians in reputed academic institutions like IITs augur well for capacity building in defence R &D, Joshi said. The success in developing a wide array of indigenous weapons and combat management systems among others on these platforms could not have been possible without the sustained efforts of the R&D labs and industry over a long time, he said. He stressed the achievements in the space programme, IT, telecom and pharmaceutical sector among other fields to highlight the inherent capabilities of the country. He expressed confidence that the country can make progress and achieve greater heights in defence sector as well. PTI