Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) is to be launched as a non-profit company later this month to foster technology development and innovative products with commercial potential for the defence sector.
The company is being formed by defence electronics major Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and defence aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL).
The Defence ministry had in December approved the creation of a Defence Innovation Fund (DIF) under which the DIO is being formed. The company will fund development of new and innovative products and solutions for India’s defence requirements.
According to informations from officials, anyone from academia, medium and small enterprises, research and development institutes, individuals and start ups can approach DIO for funding.
After the launch, DIO will choose a knowledge partner for screening the ideas received for funding support.
The selected ideas will be financially supported to work on the proof of concept and those will go through further down selection process to select concepts that can be funded for prototype development. The successful prototypes will also be helped in their commercialisation.
By Baishakhi Dutta
