In a bid to boost the defence R&D and manufacturing ecosystem in India, the government has decided to enhance the funding under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme to Rs 50 crore per project.

The TDF scheme, executed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), supports indigenous development of components, products, systems and technologies by MSMEs and start-ups.

"Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh has approved the enhancement of funding under Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme of Ministry of Defence to Rs 50 crore per project from Rs 10 crore," an official release said on Wednesday (8 June).

The government had earlier earmarked 25 per cent of defence R&D budget for private industry, start-ups and academia in Union Budget 2022-23.

The enhanced funding is in line with the budget announcement and it will give further boost the vision of ‘Aatmanirbharta in defence’, the Defence Ministry said in a release.

The TDF Scheme aims to provide a major fillip to the defence manufacturing sector by encouraging the industry to innovate and develop defence technologies in order to place India on the self-reliance trajectory, the ministry said.

The scheme facilitates up to 90 per cent of the total project cost and allows industry to work in consortium with another industry or academia, it added.

According to the ministry, with the enhanced funding, the industry and startups will be able to develop more complex technologies for existing and future weapon systems and platforms.

Till date, 56 projects have been sanctioned under TDF scheme, the ministry said.