Rs 3,343 crore received as FDI in defence sector since 2014: Rajnath Singh
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that a total of Rs 3,343 crore has been received as foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector since 2014. Singh stated the defence sector needs continuous investment for capacity enhancements and the creation of state-of-the-art technologies. He mentioned ‘During the period from 2001-2014, a total FDI inflow of about Rs 1,382 crore was reported and from 2014 till date, a total FDI of about Rs 3,343 crore has been reported.’
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said the government created the Defence AI (Artificial Intelligence) Council (DAIC) in 2019 for providing necessary guidance to enable and effect the development of an operating framework for the adoption of the application of AI in the defence sector. He said all the three services have established institutional mechanisms in the form of AI Sub Committee and Joint Working Group on AI. As part of the data management framework, the services have formulated data policy and appointed data management officers.
He also said that the budget allocated and utilised in the past three years for the research and development of indigenous defence aircraft was Rs 3,280 crore and Rs 2,835 crore respectively. He added 100 per cent rate of success has been achieved for the various research carried out for the development of indigenous defence aircraft.