Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme

• 18 Aug 2021

Why in News

Recently, the Defence Ministry has announced that it will soon issue Requests For Proposal (RFPs) to set up eight defence testing facilities in the country in partnership with the private sector.

• These RFPs would be issued under the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS).
• The RFP is a business document that announces a project, describes it, and invites bids for completing it.

Key Points

• Background:
  
  • Under Make in India, India has accorded high priority to development of the manufacturing base of Defence and Aerospace sectors in the country so as to reduce dependence on imports.
  • Towards this, the establishment of Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu was announced.
  • Several other initiatives like Revised Make-II procedures, Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and Defence Investors Cell have been created with an aim to provide an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development and encourage Indian industry to invest in Aerospace and Defence sectors.
    
    • Defence Investors Cell was created to provide all necessary information including addressing queries related to investment opportunities, procedures and regulatory requirements for investment in the sector.
• About DTIS:
  
  • The scheme was launched on 8^th May, 2020 and would run for the duration of five years.
  • It envisages setting up of 6-8 Greenfield Defence Testing Infrastructure facilities that are required for defence and aerospace related production.
  • It also envisages to set up test facilities in partnership with private industry.
• Objectives:
  
  • Promote indigenous defence production, with special focus on participation of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Start Ups by bridging gaps in defence testing infrastructure in the country.
  • Provide easy access and to meet the testing needs of the domestic defence industry.
  • Facilitate indigenous defence production, consequently reduce imports of military equipment and help make the country self-reliant.
• Finance and Cooperation:
  
  • The Scheme has an outlay of Rs 400 crore for creating state of the art testing infrastructure over the duration of five years.
  • The projects under the Scheme will be provided with up to 75% government funding in the form of ‘Grant-in-Aid’.
  • The remaining 25% of the project cost will have to be borne by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) whose constituents will be Indian private entities and State Governments.
    
    • Only private entities registered in India and State Government agencies will qualify for forming the implementation agency for the Scheme.
    • The SPVs under the Scheme will be registered under Companies Act 2013.

Source: PIB