Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Monday advised the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) to think “out-of-the-box” and retain its relevance in the face of competition from private sector and fast-changing technology.
Assuring complete support in functional autonomy and finances for the premier defence research institute, Mr. Antony said the organisation should also become forward-looking.
“We have provided a measure of functional autonomy to DRDO and have never let financial resources be a constraint. DRDO must not fritter away these resources and needs to do some “out-of-the-box’ thinking,” the Minister said in his inaugural address at the DRDO’s Directors conference.
“We want the public sector and the private sector to prosper mutually and not in isolation of each other. We will never compromise on transparency and fairness in defence dealings,” Mr. Antony said.
Innovation needed
With increasing participation of foreign companies and the private sector, organisations like DRDO were left with no choice but to be globally competitive,” he said underscoring that DRDO should innovate in research and development to meet its mandate of providing the world’s best equipment to the country’s armed forces.
“For this, DRDO will have to become a forward looking and a receptive organisation and not remain rooted to old mindsets”, Mr. Antony said.
