Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, DefConnect 2.0 is a celebration of the growth of the Indian defence start-up ecosystem. He mentioned that this is the culmination of the success of his ministry’s initiative Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX). Mr Singh highlighted iDEX has so far assisted in developing and processing a number of nascent and in-house technologies.
Saying DefConnect 2.0 and iDEX are extremely important, Mr Singh emphasised that any new technology is very costly in the beginning and its adoption is voluntary for any society. Mr Singh was speaking at the inaugural function of DefConnect in New Delhi. The Defence Minister also launched Defense India Start-up Challenge, ie DISC-6.
The Defence Minister said, recently, the Defence Acquisition Council has approved the purchase of 14 items worth 380 crore rupees from iDEX start-ups. iDEX has introduced more than 100 iDEX Winners to the market so far.
The Defence Ministry has also approved a new simplified, fast track procedure for procurement from iDEX start-ups and MSMEs. As per the new procedure, the procurement cycle has been compressed in about 22 weeks.
