The government established the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework with the goal of fostering innovation and technological advancement in the defence and aerospace industries by involving industries such as MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes, and academia to encourage self-reliance.
Grants or funds have been given to 139 iDEX winners as of February 28, 2023. Following successful trials, the Services have ordered supplies for three iDEX winners. In addition, 13 other iDEX items have received Acceptance of Need (AoN) from the Ministry.
The entire system is made more favourable for the iDEX winners by iDEX, which provides technical assistance through 19 affiliated Partner Incubators of iDEX, easier and quicker access to test facilities and infrastructure offered by various government agencies, co-creation and co-innovation using simple operating procedures, and minimal documentation.
To give the Services a technological advantage over their competitors, iDEX has launched challenges in cutting-edge technologies and fields like artificial intelligence, augmented reality(AR), virtual reality(VR), autonomous/unmanned solutions, stealth, domain awareness, secure communications, simulation, navigation, preventive maintenance, space, and cyber security.
Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt provided this information in a written reply to Shri Abir Ranjan Biswas in the Rajya Sabha today.
