Speech by Hon'ble President of India Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil , at the Drdo Laboratory

First of all I wish all of you a very happy and prosperous New Year. It gives me immense pleasure to be with the DRDO team at the start of the New Year, a year that also marks 50 years of the existence of DRDO. The Golden Jubilee is a time for DRDO to celebrate its achievements, to reflect on challenges and to look at the path ahead for achieving its vision of developing a world class Science and Technology base for the Indian defence sector.

Today has been a splendid opportunity to see the laudable work being done by DRDO during the last five decades to strengthen our national defence. An organization which had a modest beginning in 1958, DRDO has today evolved to be a core research organization with 30,000 knowledge workers including about 7,000 scientists, 12,000 technical personnel and 11,000 support staff - a strong scientific force to reckon with.

I am happy to note that DRDO has made significant contributions in ensuring a strong strategic defence, by developing indigenous capabilities in weapons and their delivery systems. It has provided to the country a wide spectrum of tactical systems such as the Light Combat Aircraft - Tejas; the Main Battle Tank - Arjun; a family of missiles - the Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Nag and the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, with capability of delivering different payloads to varying ranges. The recent successful launch of Agni III and Interceptor missile technologies developed by DRDO has taken our country to an elite club of nations who have similar capabilities.

The other major successes of the organization include the development of a series of radars, electronic warfare systems, secured communication, sonars, torpedoes and armament systems. Specialized materials for defence requirements have also been indigenously developed by DRDO which include composites, armour for tanks, titanium sponge and special steel alloy for naval weapon platforms. The life support technologies developed by DRDO for the "man behind the weapon" have helped to improve the health and operational efficiency of troops even in extremes of environmental and operational conditions such as high altitude, desert, underwater, aerospace and low intensity conflict environments.

Even though the major beneficiary of DRDO's contributions has been the defence forces, I am delighted to know that the spin-off benefits of DRDO have been of immense use to society at large. The food processing industries have commercialized many innovative technologies developed by DRDO. The hill agriculture technologies of DRDO have contributed to the economic development of people living in high altitude areas like Ladakh. The diagnostic kits developed for bio-defence will also be useful for the early diagnosis of diseases such as typhoid, malaria, plague, dengue and chikunguniya among the civil population living in rural areas. The water desalination technology of DRDO has been able to provide potable water to a large population living in 40 villages of Rajasthan.

The work of the DRDO team gives us a great sense of pride. However, many challenges remain. India's large size and its long land and maritime borders require constant defence preparedness. A strong security apparatus is also necessary for the economic and social development of the country. In today's world with new threat perceptions, defence and security systems are increasingly moving towards technology intensive options. Our Defence Forces need to upgrade and modernize their equipment to keep pace with the rapid changes taking place in the world. To ensure that our armed forces are not deprived of timely acquisition of new weapon systems, it is of critical importance that delivery targets are met on schedule. The timeframe required for development of technology, production and subsequent induction of the weapon system into our Armed Forces would need to be compacted. DRDO has to carry this burden and I am confident that it has the capability to do so.

Research and Development in weapons is a high cost venture. As a developing country, India has limited financial means and we have to work in a manner that gives a high return on the investment made for Research and Development. The aim should be to make Research and Development cost effective. Our human capital and resources have to be fully mobilized to create a vibrant defence industry in our country. DRDO could leverage partnership with the domestic private sector in the development of high technology. Similarly, the spin-offs from defence related research could be shared with industry and revenues so generated ploughed back into research.

DRDO, while working towards self-reliance, should take advantage of research being undertaken worldwide. It cannot remain an island isolated from the rest of the world. DRDO institutions should look at interacting with internationally renowned scientists and reputed international research institutions to understand the global perspective on defence and defence production.

DRDO facilities and research will require scientists of calibre to work with them. DRDO should develop linkages with universities in the country with a view to attracting better talent to DRDO. Its efforts in developing academic strength at the national level in the field of defence science through research boards and establishment of DRDO centers of excellence in universities is a welcome step and should be further strengthened.

I congratulate all members of DRDO for their hard work, dedication and perseverance in meeting with the needs of not only our Armed Forces but also for contributing to nation building. I also pay compliments to the wives of the scientists who take care of the home front, while such good work is going on.

May the new and the Golden Jubilee Year - 2008 bring abundance of good health, peace, prosperity and a professionally satisfying period for all of you and enable you to scale even greater heights of accomplishment and do the nation proud.

Thank you.  
JAI HIND