Indian Navy to unveil updated indigenisation roadmap next week

New Delhi: The Indian Navy will unveil next week some of the 75 new technologies developed over last one year in collaboration with the MSMEs, including 12 projects worth ₹1,500 crore that have obtained acceptance of necessity (EoN), and an indigenisation roadmap ‘Swavlamban 2.0’ to further boost the domestic defence industry, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Sanjay Jasjit Singh said on Sep 27.

All the 75 technologies, which came out of ‘SPRINT challenges’ posed to the start-ups and MSMEs during the Swavlamban seminar last July, are in niche areas to fulfil the Navy’s requirements, and they are on a critical path waiting to undergo trials and exhaust other processes to convert them into products, Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh stated at a press meet.

“We have already obtained Acceptance of Necessity for 12 such cases, worth close to ₹1,500 crore, and procurement orders for products worth ₹200 crore amongst these have already been signed. In the coming weeks, we are looking to conclude many more such contracts,” the Vice Chief of Navy informed, ahead of the second edition of the Indian Navy’s Naval Innovation and Indigenisation (NIIO) Seminar – ‘Swavlamban 2023’, which will be held here over two days from October 4.

At the press conference, Commodore Arun Golaya gave an overall presentation on the upcoming seminar which included sharing clips on four innovations such as ‘fire fighting bot’, ‘Carbon Nano Tubes/ Aerogel-based fabrics’ and metal cutters which is the first of its kind that does not use gas. The bot, developed by Swadeshi Empresa, detects the seat of fire and extinguishes it using water/foam jet/spray, keeping humans away from danger. Its user trials were undertaken onboard aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and the company is also getting inquiries from global buyers, Navy officials stated. Similarly, Veera Tactical Dynamics has developed carbon nano tubes/aerogel-based fabrics which can have multiple uses. Navy, for instance, wants to use it as a camouflage against infrared cameras besides its fire-resistant.

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