Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme

11.12.2023

Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme , Daily Current Affairs , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow 

 Why in the news?

Recently, the Union Raksha Rajya Mantri informed Lok Sabha that 16 defence technologies have been successfully developed/realised under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme.

About Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme:

• It is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Defence executed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under ‘Make in India’ initiative.
• Launched in 2016 it was established with the aim of promoting self-reliance in the nation’s defence technology, it is a part of the popular Make in India

The main objectives of the scheme are:

• To provide Grant in Aid to Indian industries, including MSMEs and Start-ups, as well as academic and scientific institutions for the development of Defence and dual use technologies that are currently not available with the Indian defence Industry.
• To engage with the private industries especially MSMEs and Start-ups to bring in the culture of Design & Development of Military Technology and support them with Grant in Aid.
• To focus on Research, Design & Development of Niche technologies which are being developed for the first time in the country.
• To create a bridge amongst the Armed Forces, research organizations, academia and qualifying/certifying agencies with private sector entities.
• To support the futuristic technologies having a Proof of Concept and converting them into prototype.

Funding Support:

• The funding will be through provision of grants to the Industry.
• The project cost of up to INR 10 Cr will be considered for funding, subject to a maximum of 90% of the total project cost.
• Industry may work in collaboration with academia or research institutions.
• The work involvement of academia cannot exceed 40% of the total project cost.

Project Duration: Maximum development period will be two years.

The benefits of the scheme are :

• Capacity and capability building of Indian industries for design and development of defence technologies in the country.
• Creation of an ecosystem of R&D where industry and Academia work together to meet the current and futuristic requirements of the Armed Forces and defence sector.
• Building of the Defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
• Achieving ‘Atma Nirbharta’ in defence technology.

The Technology development fund scheme covers technology development in terms of the following:

• Development of innovative services and products that prove to be useful for the nation’s defence applications.
• Significant improvement or upgradation and further progress in the existing process, application, products, etc.
• Introduce or import substitutes for components of the technologies related to which are not available in the Indian industry.
• Upgrading the technology readiness level, starting with TRL3 to product realization according to Tri-Service’s needs.

Eligibility for TDF

• Indian private and public industries, including MSMEs.
• Projects up to INR 10 Crores are eligible for funding; subject to a maximum of 90% of the entire cost of the project. However, 100% of funding may be considered on a case-to-case basis.
• In the event of research organisations or academia being involved in the work, their contribution is limited to 40% of the efforts.

About DRDO

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India.
• It is charged with the military's research and development, headquartered in Delhi, India.

Formation

• It was formed in 1958 by the merger of the Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production of the Indian Ordnance Factories with the Defence Science Organisation under the administration of Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Subsequently, Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS) was constituted in 1979 as a service of Group 'A' Officers / Scientists directly under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence.

Significant achievements of DRDO:

• Light Combat Aircraft  ‘Tejas’
• Remotely Piloted Vehicle  ‘Nishant’
• Pilotless Target Aircraft  ‘Lakshya-I’
• Main Battle Tank ‘Arjun Mk-I’
• Armoured Amphibious Dozer Mk-I
• Armoured Engineer Recce Vehicle
• NBC Recce Vehicle
• Bridging Systems  ‘Sarvatra’

Weapon Systems:

• Akash Weapon System
• Prithvi Missile for Army and Air Force
• Supersonic Cruise Missile ‘BrahMos’
• Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System ‘Pinaka’ Mk-I
• Torpedo Advanced Light
• Heavy Weight Ship Launched Torpedo ‘Varunastra

Soldier Support Systems: