21-Dec-2022: Aatmanirbhar Bharat: iDEX-DIO signs 150th contract for defence innovation on Expendable Mobile Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Target capable of simulating sound & movement of a submarine

 Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), the flagship initiative of Department of Defence Production, has reached a milestone with the signing of its 150th contract. The contract relates to an Indian Navy project of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 7) SPRINT edition. The challenge was titled ‘Expendable Mobile Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Training Target (EMATT) capable of simulating the sound and movement of a submarine’ and the winner was Altair Infrasec Pvt Ltd, Pune.

The Challenge envisaged development of a training target capable of being deployed from P8I aircraft, MH60R helicopters, ships doing speed up to 10 knots and other Remotely Piloted Aircraft without undertaking any modification on the platform from which the EMATT is required to be launched.

The contract was signed by Joint Secretary (Defence Industries Production) & Additional CEO/DIO Shri Anurag Bajpai with CEO, Altair Infrasec Pvt Ltd Shri Anil Anand in the presence of Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane and other senior civil & military officials of Ministry of Defence in New Delhi on December 21, 2022. The iDEX achieved the milestone within five months of the signing of its 100th contract on July 26, 2022.

In his address, the Defence Secretary elaborated on the conducive environment created due to the initiatives taken by the Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, wherein new private sector companies are being provided with opportunities to grow and contribute to Nation Building. He expressed hope that more companies would take advantage of this ecosystem and help achieve the vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. He congratulated Altair Infrasec Pvt Ltd and assured the support of Ministry of Defence for the completion of the project.

The iDEX framework was launched by the Prime Minister in 2018 with the objective to provide a platform of co-creation and co-development in the defence sector, engage start-ups and develop defence and aerospace set up in the country. The iDEX is being implemented by Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), established under Department of Defence Production.

Within a short span of time iDEX, which has also been awarded the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Public Policy in Innovation Category for the year 2021, has emerged as a game changer in the defence eco-system through its flagship programmes like DISC, Prime and Open Challenges (OC). iDEX has been able to build the required momentum and generate a critical mass of start-ups in the defence sector.

Till date, iDEX has received more than 6,500 applications from individual innovators, MSMEs and start-ups under DISC, Prime and OC. It has also been able to generate thousands of jobs and attract India’s talent back to the country.

During DefExpo 2022 held in October, the Prime Minister had launched Mission DefSpace, including DISC 8 to develop innovative solutions for the Armed Forces in the space domain through industry and start-ups. The last date to apply is January 02, 2023.

The iDEX, in association with Tri-Services, DPSUs, MSMEs & start-ups, is striving to develop cutting-edge technology products to make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ and achieve the export target of USD $5 billion i.e. Rs 40,000 crore with the objective of transforming India into a global defence manufacturing hub in the next 25 years.

The iDEX is working at path-breaking pace to ensure that its agreements with the start-ups and innovators reach logical conclusions timely, eventually opening a myriad of options for the budding soon-to-be-unicorns and at the same time, addressing the requirement of the Services.

8-Aug-2022: iDEX Initiative

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework was launched by the Government with the aim to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace Sector by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia and promote self-reliance. The Government has approved a central sector scheme for iDEX with budgetary support of Rs. 498.78 crore for the next 5 years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial support to nearly 300 Start-ups/MSMEs/individual innovators and about 20 Partner Incubators through Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO).

The Government encourages the start-ups to contribute to the defence sector and develop aerospace setup in the country by providing substantial grants, easier and faster access to test facilities/infrastructure available with various Government agencies, co-creation and   co-innovation using smooth operating procedures and minimal documentation, and facilitating procurement, thus making the entire regime conducive for them.

26-Jul-2022: ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’: iDEX-DIO signs 100th contract for defence innovation

iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence), the flagship initiative of the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, ceremoniously embarked upon the milestone of signing its 100th contract on 26 July 2022.

iDEX framework was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2018 with the objective that it would provide the platform of co- creation and co-development in the Defence sector, and would engage start-ups to contribute to the defence sector and develop defence and aerospace setup in the country. iDEX is being implemented by Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), established under Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence.

Within a short span of time iDEX, which has also been awarded the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Public Policy in Innovation Category for the year 2021, has emerged as a game changer in the Defence eco-system through its flagship programmes like Defence India Start-up Challenges (DISC), Prime and Open Challenges (OC). iDEX has been able to build the required momentum and generate critical mass of start-ups in the defence sector.

Today, the 100th contract was signed by Additional Secretary (Defence Production) and CEO, DIO Shri Sanjay Jaju with CEO Pacify Medical Technologies Pvt Ltd Shri Saiprasad Poyarekar. The occasion was graced by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen BS Raju. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ajay Kumar said, “We are confident that iDEX will make India the biggest Defence Innovation Ecosystem in the world. For this, I would like to thank the tireless and continuous efforts and support from all the stakeholders, including the Services, the start-ups, partner incubators and the iDEX team.”

Till date, iDEX has launched iDEX Prime, seven rounds of DISC (including DISC SPRINT) and five rounds of OC, receiving more than 4,000 applications from individual innovators, MSMEs and start-ups. More than Rs 250 crore worth of projects have been allocated and procurement of 14 items worth over Rs 400 crore have been cleared. iDEX has also been able to generate thousands of jobs and attract India’s talent back to the country.

 In the last four years, 17 start-ups in 14 projects have already been accorded the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) by Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for trial and procurement in March 2022. Projects from balance of DISC 1 & 2 and some from DISC 3 are nearing completion and may be accorded AoN by DAC by end of current Financial Year.

iDEX is working at path breaking pace to ensure that its agreements with the start-ups and innovators reach logical conclusions timely, eventually opening myriad of options for the budding, soon to be unicorns and also at the same time addressing the requirement of Services.

22-Apr-2022: Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launches iDEX-Prime & 6th Defence India Start-up Challenge during DefConnect 2.0 in New Delhi

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) Prime and sixth Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 6) during DefConnect 2.0 in New Delhi on April 22, 2022. The iDEX-Prime aims to support projects, requiring support beyond Rs 1.5 crore up to Rs 10 crore, to help ever-growing start-ups in the defence sector.

The DISC 6 with 38 Problem Statements was also launched by the Raksha Mantri. Apart from the three Services and some Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) which have participated in earlier editions, DISC 6 witnesses the participation of newly-formed seven defence companies, Indian Coast Guard and organisations under Ministry of Home Affairs for the first time. The Problem Statements relate to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Advanced Imaging, Sensor Systems, Big Data Analytics and Autonomous Unmanned Systems and Secured Communication among others.

The winners of DISC 5, Open Challenge (OC 2 and 3) were also felicitated and two sessions with stalwarts of the industry were organised during the event. In addition, a static exhibition of an array of start-ups supported by iDEX-Defence Innovation Organisation (iDEX-DIO) was displayed to all the attendees, with the aim to motivate budding entrepreneurs to take the leap.

In his address, Shri Rajnath Singh described DefConnect 2.0 as a symbol of increasing technological prowess of the country and a celebration of the continuous growth of the Indian defense start-up ecosystem. It is indicative to the success of the iDEX initiative which has helped in the development of many new and indigenous technologies, he said.

The Raksha Mantri congratulated the Department of Defence Production (DDP) for receiving the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2021 under the ‘Innovation (General) – Central’ category for the iDEX initiative. He lauded iDEX for providing an important platform for start-ups to showcase innovations and technological developments. “iDEX has provided an opportunity to our science and technology professionals to understand futuristic technologies such as AI, Augmented Reality, Block-chain and Space technologies. The start-up ecosystem has also been promoted and encouraged through order placement,” he stated.

Shri Rajnath Singh appreciated the fact that iDEX has, so far, introduced more than 100 iDEX Winners to the market, thus providing direct & indirect employment to thousands of skilled and semi-skilled people. He hoped that lakhs of people will get employment with the introduction of iDEX winners to manufacturing enterprises. It is an important step towards improving the socio-economic condition of many people, he said.

The Raksha Mantri stressed on continuous strengthening of all sectors, especially the security apparatus, of the country to deal with challenges that may emanate from the fast-changing world order. “Every new threat is becoming more complex and challenging than the previous one. After the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is now witnessing the Ukrainian conflict. We have also witnessed instability in the Middle East, in Afghanistan and now in Pakistan. One way or the other, such events impact our country as well. There is a need to equip the country in every area to ensure peace and stability. The development of disruptive technology is a key requirement to handle new threats and challenges of the future,” he added.

Terming the private sector, individual innovators, start-ups and MSMEs as strong pillars of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Raksha Mantri exhorted them to imagine, innovate & develop new defence technologies and ensure uniqueness in each one of them. He stated that defence technologies are one of those technologies, utility and uniqueness of which hold equal importance. “The usefulness of defence technologies is important, but its availability to us alone holds equal relevance. As the technology spreads to others, it loses relevance. If the uniqueness is lost, the effect of that technology gradually diminishes. There is a need to develop new technologies, with focus on ensuring uniqueness. The Government, Armed Forces, private sector, individual innovators, start-ups, MSMEs and academia can together create a strong bond and move forward to achieve the shared aim of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’,” he said.

Shri Rajnath Singh listed out a number of steps taken by the Government to create an eco-system that strengthens the domestic industry, start-ups & innovators, equip the Armed Forces with latest equipment and help the Government achieve the ultimate aim of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. The measures include earmarking 68 per cent of capital procurement budget for domestic procurement to promote ‘Aatmanirbharta’, reserving 25 per cent of defence R&D budget for private industry & start-ups and the recent release of third positive indigenisation list of 101 items. He exuded confidence that many start-ups will soon come out as defence unicorns and make a place in Fortune 500 companies.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Executive Officer Niti Aayog Shri Amitabh Kant described defence manufacturing as key for India to become a manufacturing hub. He said, the achievements of iDEX have laid the foundation of a huge success story that manufacturing will take place in India in the times to come. Shri Amitabh Kant added that Indian start-ups possess a phenomenal energy and they are successfully finding solutions to challenges in defence manufacturing and agriculture productivity among others. The Government aims to tap the potential of start-ups to solve the problems of the future. He appreciated the fact that defence manufacturing is witnessing an increasing number of women entrepreneurs, who will push the limit of innovation and R&D in India.

Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar credited the start-ups for the success of the iDEX initiative. He, however, termed it as just an interim milestone, calling upon the start-ups to continuously strive to develop home-made technologies and bring them at par with international technologies. Dr Ajay Kumar urged the Armed Forces and the DPSUs to come with more challenges for the start-ups which can strengthen the defence ecosystem. He also lauded the Armed Forces for their continued support and faith in iDEX.

The third edition of Innovate4Defence internship (i4D) was also launched on the occasion, inviting applications from students all over India. In addition, a DIO e-Brochure and the 'Runway for Innovations' e-Coffee Table Book was launched during DefConnect 2.0.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Manoj Pande, Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral SN Ghormade, Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, other civil and military officials of Ministry of Defence, heads of start-ups, individual innovators were among those present on the occasion.

1-Apr-2022: IDEX initiative

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework was launched by the Government with the aim to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace Sector by engaging Industries including MSMEs, startups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia and promote self-reliance. The Government has approved a central sector scheme for iDEX with budgetary support of Rs. 498.78 crore for the next 5 years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial support to nearly 300 Startups/ MSMEs/individual innovators and about 20 Partner incubators through Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO). For the current financial year 2021-2022, Rs. 45 crore have been released by the Government to iDEX-DIO.

The Government encourages the start-ups to contribute to the defence sector and develop aerospace setup in the country by providing substantial grants, easier and faster access to test facilities/infrastructure available with various Government agencies, co-creation and co-innovation using smooth operating procedures and minimal documentation, and facilitating procurement, thus making the entire regime conducive for them.

25-Mar-2022: Innovations for defence excellence initiative

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework was launched by the Government with the aim to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace Sector by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia and promote self-reliance. The Government has approved a central sector scheme viz. Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) with budgetary support of Rs 498.78 crore for the next 5 years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial support to nearly 300 start-ups/MSMEs/individual innovators and about 20 Partner incubators through Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO).

Under iDEX route, the Government focuses on innovation and design & development, and supports the start-ups and innovators for successful prototype development. So far, 132 start-ups have been engaged and 66 contracts have been signed for prototype development. Out of them, Indian Navy, after successful trials, has placed a supply order on one iDEX winner. Moreover, the Ministry has also accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for 14 more iDEX products, paving the way for placement of orders on the iDEX winners.

iDEX incentivizes the youth to participate in iDEX as start-ups by providing grants, easier and faster access to test facilities/infrastructure available with various Government agencies, co-creation and co-development using smooth operating procedures and facilitating procurement, thus making the entire regime conducive for them.

28-Jul-2021: Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX)

The Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence has approved a central sector scheme viz. Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX)with budgetary support of Rs. 498.80 crore for the next 5 years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial support to nearly 300 Startups/ MSMEs/ individual innovators and about 20 Partner incubators through Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO).

• To avail the grants under the grant mechanism of iDEX i.e. Support for Prototype and Research Kickstart (SPARK), the eligibility is as follows:
• Startups, as defined and recognized by Department of Industrial Policy Promotion (DIPP), now DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
• Any Indian company incorporated under the Companies Act 1956/2013, primarily a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) as defined in the MSME Act, 2006.
• Individual innovators are also encouraged to apply (research & academic institutions can use this category to apply).
• To avail the grants as iDEX Partner Incubators, the eligibility is as follows:
  • The applicant incubator should be registered in India as a legal entity in public, private or public–private partnership mode, and should have received establishment or grant support from a Ministry/Department of Government of India in the past.
  • The incubator must have been in operation for a minimum of 3 years before application for affiliation with DIO, and experience of having supported at least 25 startups.
  • It should have successfully graduated at least 5 startups in the past 3 years.
  • It should have at least 25 mentors for startups affiliated with it, at least 5 of them should be relevant to defence or aerospace domain.
  • Experience of having run sector-focused accelerator programs in at least two sectors, with investable startups having come out of each of them.
  • Experience of having partnered with academia and research sector.
  • Extensive corporate, investor, academic, vendor, mentor and government relationships to support start-ups.

The said scheme formulated by Department of Defence Production (DDP) envisages to fund DIO to take up the following activities:

• Setting up and managing the iDEX network in the form of Partner Incubators.
• Communicating with innovators/start-ups/technology centres of MSMEs through the Partner Incubators (PIs).
• Organizing various challenges/hackathons to shortlist potential technologies and entities for defence and aerospace use.
• Interfacing with the Services about key innovative technologies and encouraging their adoption into the defence establishment with suitable assistance.

13-Jun-2021: Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh approves Rs 498.8 crore budgetary support for Defence innovation through iDEX - DIO

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has approved the budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore to Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) - Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) for the next five years. The budgetary support will provide a big boost to the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as iDEX–DIO has the primary objective of self-reliance and indigenisation in defence & aerospace sector of the country.

The creation of the iDEX framework and establishment of the DIO by the Department of Defence Production (DDP) is aimed at creating an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes & academia and provide them grants/funding and other support to carry out R&D development which has good potential for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace needs.

The scheme, with budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore for the next five years, is aimed at providing financial support to nearly 300 start-ups/MSMEs/individual innovators and 20 partner incubators under the DIO framework. It will support increased awareness in the Indian innovation ecosystem about defence needs and, conversely, in the Indian Defence establishment about the potential of the Indian innovation eco-system to deliver innovative solutions to meet their needs.

The DIO, with its team, will enable the creation of channels for innovators to engage and interact with the Indian Defence production industry. The long-term effect to be realised by the group is the establishment of a culture, where enlisting the effort of innovators by the Indian military is commonplace and frequent.

The scheme aims to facilitate rapid development of new, indigenised and innovative technologies for the Indian defence and aerospace sector to meet their needs in shorter timelines; create a culture of engagement with innovative start-ups to encourage co-creation for defence and aerospace; empower a culture of technology co-creation and co-innovation within the defence and aerospace sector and boost innovation among the start-ups and encourage them to be a part of the ecosystem.

The DDP will release funds to DIO for setting up and managing the iDEX network in the form of Partner Incubators (PIs); communicating with innovators/start-ups/technology centres of MSMEs through the PIs including the PIs of Department of Science and Technology regarding defence and aerospace needs; organising various challenges/hackathons to shortlist potential technologies and entities and evaluating technologies and products developed by innovators/start-ups in terms of their utility and impact on the defence and aerospace setup. The other activities include enabling and funding pilots using innovation funds dedicated to the purpose; interfacing with the Armed Forces top brass about key innovative technologies and encouraging their adoption into the defence establishment with suitable assistance; facilitating scale-up, indigenisation and integration in manufacturing facilities for successfully piloted technologies and organising outreach activities all across the country.

29-Sep-2020: iDEX4Fauji launched for the first time to encourage innovation among soldiers

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4) during the iDEX event, featuring the initiatives aimed at expanding the horizons of Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) ecosystem in New Delhi today. iDEX4Fauji initiative and Product Management Approach (PMA) guidelines were also launched by the Raksha Mantri during the event.  Each of these initiatives is expected to facilitate iDEX-DIO to scale up the program qualitatively and quantitatively.

iDEX4Fauji is a first of its kind initiative, launched to support innovations identified by members of the Indian Armed Forces and will bolster frugal innovation ideas from soldiers/ field formations. There are more than 13 Lakh service personnel working in the field and on borders, handling extreme conditions and equipment and would be having many ideas and innovations to improve such equipment. There was no mechanism to support such innovations.  iDEX4Fauji would open this window and allow our Faujis to become part of the innovation process and get recognised and rewarded. Services Headquarters will provide support to the soldiers & field formations all over the country to ensure maximum participation.

 Speaking on the occasion, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh said that the iDEX initiative stands out as one of the most effective and well-executed defence Startup ecosystem created in our country and it would be a decisive step towards achieving self-reliance in the spirit of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign. Shri Rajnath Singh said, for the first time, an atmosphere has been created in the country when different stakeholders have been brought together to push for innovations in the defence sector. “In order to further strengthen our defence system and make it self- reliant the participation of private sector is also crucial. For this we have taken certain steps like partnerships with private sector, technology transfer, 74 % FDI through automatic route and the recently   released negative list of 101 items for import ban after a stipulated period.” Raksha Mantri also said that only yesterday the government launched Defence Acquisition procedure 2020 which seeks to encourage the private industry to participate in the defence sector. Raksha Mantri also exhorted the Armed Forces to “make full use of the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) platform to meet their technological requirements and the Indian Startups to use this opportunity to become an integral part of our Defence enablers.”

The event was addressed among others by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Yesso Naik,  Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar  and Secretary, Department of Defence Production Shri Rajkumar.

Under Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC) 4, eleven challenges from Armed forces, OFB&DPSUs were thrown open to prospective startups, innovators, MSMEs alike to provide their innovative ideas on technologies which find their application in the defence sector. The challenges are as follows:

1. Autonomous Underwater Swarm Drones
2. Predictive, Preventive & Prescriptive Machine Monitoring
3. Super Resolution for Improving Spatial Resolution
4. AI based Satellite Image Analysis
5. Prediction and forecasting of atmospheric visibility
6. Computer Generated Targets for Virtual Training
7. Remote Real Time In-Flight Health Monitoring of Aircrew
8. MF-TDMA based Wideband SATCOM Modem
9. Foliage Penetration Radar
10. Reduction of RCS of Naval Warships
11. Target Detection in Chaff Environment

In order to develop a 'right product and the product right', DIO has adopted the Product Management Approach to steer the prototype development to a market ready product.  These guidelines are first of their kind and their release by Raksha Mantri is intended to monitor product development milestones achieved by iDEX winners against the requirements set by the Services/ DPSUs/ OFB.

The iDEX initiative of the Department of Defence Production was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in April 2018 with the objective to encourage and nurture innovations in the Indian Defence sector and create an ecosystem where Startups, MSMEs and individual innovators could interact easily with the Indian defence establishment and provide the latest technological innovations for specific challenges experienced in operational environments through co-development and co-production of innovative solutions. The iDEX initiatives are executed by Defence Innovation Organisation, a Section 8 company of DPSUs BEL and HAL.

DIO has evolved and expanded the magnitude of its activities since inception in 2018:

• iDEX-DIO has launched three rounds of Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC) with 18 problem statements from Armed Forces, DPSUs & OFB and identified 55+ start-ups/ individuals to receive innovation grants in technological areas through the Prototype funding guidelines called “Support for Prototype and Research Kickstart” (SPARK), which entail provisioning of grants upto Rs 1.5 crore to the Startups on the basis of milestones through multiple tranches, for prototype development.
• DIO has entered into strategic partnership with leading incubators of the country and undergone international collaborations especially with Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) in US.
• For efficaciously taking forward the activities, DIO is hiring manpower, doing outreach, launched own website (www.idex.gov.in) & portal, launched 2 cycles of open challenge for supporting Suo-moto innovations, SPARK II guidelines and an internship program etc. along with promulgating elaborate guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures.
• DDP has 9 Defence PSUs as pillars of defence production in the country and iDEX has enabled capacity building in DPSUs by seeding a culture of innovation and Research and Development.

The iDEX event successfully brought together the iDEX stakeholders on a single platform i.e. Ministry of Defence (MoD), iDEX selected startups, partner incubators, Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), nodal agencies (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force), NITI Aayog, DRDO, DPSUs, OFB, think tanks, private industry and Industry associations. More than 500 startups and innovators participated in the event through video conference.