The government on Tuesday urged all stakeholders in the defence sector to come together to achieve self-reliance in critical technologies. In a speech at the DRDO Technology Day Awards Ceremony, defence minister AK Antony said, ?The need of the hour is for all stakeholders in the defence sector ? both in the public and private domain ? to come together to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies.?
?The industry must show more confidence in the capacity of indigenous technology. At the same time, the public and private sectors need to come up with modern facilities with a large manufacturing base,? he said.
Similarly, DRDO ?should strengthen its core competence and create newer ones. It also needs to reduce the long gestation periods and cut down time and cost overruns?, the minister said.
The minister also urged the defence industry to ?further sharpen its competitive edge? by ?blending creative thinking and innovative approaches in producing high quality products and executing projects on time?.
He said it was ?also high time? that DRDO ?shed its reticence in working in tandem with the private industry?. ?We need the maximum possible synergy between various production agencies,? he added.
The minister called to reverse the trend of over-indulgence on imports, and said the offsets policy had been formulated to provide an incentive to export defence products.
?However, policies by themselves can mean little, till all the partners in the defence industry, including our armed forces, show confidence in indigenous capabilities,? he added.