New Delhi: Indian Navy Vice Chief, Vice Admiral SJ Singh on Wednesday said that the Navy’s resolve to develop 75 technologies taken at the ‘Swavlamban’ seminar last year, as part of its effort to be self-reliant, has been achieved. 

“Self-reliance has always been the core outlook of the Indian Navy. Last year, the Indian Navy promised to develop 75 technologies as part of 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. The promises made in the presence of the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) have been fulfilled,” said Indian Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral SJ Singh.

Meanwhile, Indian Navy Commodore Arun Golaya said on Wednesday that the “Indian Navy has inducted firefighting bots under the 'Aatmanirbharat' defence scheme, and they have been deployed on board both aircraft carriers, including the INS Vikrant.”

Addressing the media at the curtain raiser event of the Swavlamban Seminar cum exhibition, which will be held at Bharat Mandapam on October 4th and 5th, the Vice Chief of  Indian Navy said,  “Atmanirbhar Bharat has always been a core outlook of the Indian Navy."

"Through the last 76 years, we have sought to maximise our indigenous capabilities and harness the country’s progress in science and technology. This has been accorded a greater thrust in recent years and has been rendered of higher importance in the prevailing geostrategic environment. The challenge of giving a further, and rapid, boost to our indigenisation and innovation efforts, has been taken up by the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Forces in a focused manner. The Indian Navy is at the forefront of these efforts," he added.

“Swavlamban aims to collaborate, coordinate, and develop new technologies in partnership with our technology partners. Last year, in the presence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Indian Navy had committed to develop atleast 75 technologies as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The Navy has invested considerable time and efforts towards realizing this commitment,” he said.

“Today, I can say with confidence that the Swavlamban initiative has gained critical mass, and is gathering continuous momentum. And, I am happy to inform you that the promises made last year have been fully met, and even surpassed in some cases, primarily through the SPRINT initiative, i.e., Supporting Pole-Vaulting in R&D through Innovation for Defence Excellence, NIIO and Technology Development Acceleration Cell,” he added.  

The last year has seen about 1100 proposals received from startups and MSMEs, in response to the SPRINT challenges, which were taken up by the Navy. A total of 118 firms, all MSMEs, were declared winners. Interestingly, close to 100 new firms have now been brought into the defence eco-system, for the very first time. At the Swavlamban this year, we will be demonstrating many of the products that have been developed during the last year,” the Indian Navy Vice Chief said. 

Acceleration has been achieved not only in technology development but also in procurement. Over the past year, each and every proposal received by the Navy has been examined, processed and pursued by dedicated teams of officers, assisting our technology partners through continuous professional interactions, suggestions, and user perspectives, to ensure that we have an array of trials cleared products, which are consequently ready, or nearly ready, for induction. We have already obtained Acceptance of Necessity for 12 such cases, worth close to 1500 Crores, and procurement orders for products worth 200 Crores amongst these have already been signed. In the coming weeks, we are looking to conclude many more such contracts, he said. 

SPRINT has been more than just a scheme - it has been a ‘Statement of Intent’. The results have been to our satisfaction, and we are confident that many of the products that have been developed, as part of this initiative, will find their way into the other Armed Forces, Government and civil sectors, and also export to friendly foreign countries. 

A key factor in this has been our close interactions with the industry, especially MSMEs. What we have attempted since the NIIO was set up, is to ‘listen’ to the industry, and engage them in dialogue towards better, mutual understanding. We see them as ‘partners’ rather than ‘vendors’ in a joint endeavour towards Atmanirbharta. We may not be able to solve all the problems, but together, we have been able to evolve shared understanding and effective mechanisms to address the issues and challenges involved, he added.