What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: The Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and Pacify Medical Technologies Pvt Ltd in the presence of Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar signed the 100th contract for defence innovations on Tuesday.
iDEX was launched in 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and within a short span of time, it has been awarded the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Public Policy in Innovation Category for the year 2021. It has emerged as a game changer in the Defence eco-system through its flagship programmes like Defence India Start-up Challenges (DISC), and Prime and Open Challenges (OC).
Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar applauding iDEX 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.”
iDEX has launched iDEX Prime, seven rounds of DISC 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 has been cleared. iDEX has also been able to generate thousands of jobs and attract India’s talent back to the country.
In the past four years, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has already given 17 start-ups in 14 projects the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for testing and procurement in March 2022. AoN may be granted by DAC by the conclusion of the current Financial Year for projects from the remaining DISC 1 & 2 and some from DISC 3 that are nearly finished.
iDEX is moving at a record-breaking pace to ensure that its agreements with start-ups and innovators come to logical conclusions on time, ultimately providing a wide range of possibilities for aspiring, soon-to-be unicorns while also attending to the need for Services.
