Indigenisation of Small tech sees rapid growth and large tech still gathering pace

Bengaluru: In the country’s stride towards indigenisation of technology used by the Indian Army, the Directorate of Indigenisation has made huge leaps with respect to small tech while the large tech front is now gathering pace, an official from the Directorate, told DH.

The leap is driven by three major factors, according to the officer. When there is technology sharing between nations, the transfer is not always on par with the original creation. Additionally, while the power of the Indian army lies in the age-old weapons that have proven successful for the army, assembly lines of spare parts of those weapons are gradually closing down, which necessitates India to go indigenous. The other reason is cost-cutting.

The stride has also created various opportunities for the Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to grow. According to another officer from the directorate, until June 2024, more than 600 MSMEs focusing on defense essentials production have registered themselves.

“We have achieved a fast pace of indigenisation on the ammunition front. Nearly 88% of the ammunition used by us is homemade,” the officer said.

According to the data given by the officer, there are 175 different types of ammunition used by the Indian army. About 154 of them are India-made. The rest of the ammunition is in different stages of indigenisation, most on the verge of completion. 

“The only hurdle we are facing is with Fin Stabilized Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot 120 mm. We will fix it soon,” said the officer. 

In the mountaineering gear front, nearly 97% of the gear has been indigenised bringing the budget spent on them down by 30%. According to the officer, the Indian army uses 57 different types of gear, and 53 are indigenised. Earlier, these gears were bought from Switzerland and Austria. 

The directorate recently achieved indigenisation of artillery meteorological systems, a large tech, which has proven effective. This equipment helps the army to assess the environmental conditions before firing, giving them better aim at the target.

“With large technologies, we are picking up pace but have a few hurdles,” the official previously quoted said. He refused to reveal the “hurdles.”

An official of the Army Design Bureau who did not wish to be named (organisation responsible for the research and development for procurement of weapons and other instruments) pointed out a lag on the semiconductor and chips front, which we continue to import. 

“The government hasn’t focused enough on this; if they do, the remaining imports will also not be required. It’s because there’s a lack of attention to why companies haven’t ventured into this,” the official added.

Fresh indigenous technology

When asked about the reliability of fresh indigenous technology, the officer from the directorate said that when a technology is required, vendors are given quality and sustainability norms that they should abide by. “After completion of developing a technology, its form, fitment, and functionality are tested, and multiple trials are done. So the reliability will certainly be top quality,” he said.