New Delhi, Jan 27 (NationPress) Secretary of Defence Production Sanjeev Kumar emphasized the necessity of synchronizing academic research with the demands of defence production and developing structured frameworks for ongoing collaboration.

He articulated his insights during a virtual meeting with Directors and Deans from premier academic institutions, such as IITs, NITs, and IISc, along with DPSUs and various stakeholders in New Delhi.

The dialogue focused on promoting enduring, student-driven research within academic settings, enhancing collaboration between Academia and DPSUs, transitioning beyond short-term project partnerships, and institutionalizing structured initiatives to provide insights into advanced technologies.

This approach aims to facilitate the effective translation of academic research into operational defence capabilities, he stated.

The Secretary mentioned that such interactions would afford the Ministry deeper insights into the capabilities and perspectives of academic research.

He encouraged academia to adopt a consultative approach with the Department of Defence Production to support long-term national capability development.

The meeting included participation from notable figures such as the Director of IIT Madras, Prof. V. Kamakoti; Director of IIT Kanpur, Prof. M. Agrawal; Director of IIT Bombay, Prof. S. Kedare; Director of IIT Hyderabad, Prof. B.S. Murthy; and other senior faculty from 24 leading academic institutions across the nation.

This discussion reaffirmed the Ministry of Defence's commitment to leveraging the strengths of the nation's leading academic institutions in creating a resilient, self-reliant, and future-ready defence technology ecosystem in partnership with industry.

Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh highlighted the need to minimize the time frame from research to prototype, from prototype to testing, and from testing to deployment. The Minister asserted that “timely integration into the Armed Forces should be our primary performance metric.”

Applauding the role of DRDO in achieving self-reliance, Rajnath Singh noted that Operation Sindoor showcased how indigenous systems are enhancing India’s operational readiness.

While addressing DRDO’s top-performing scientists and technical personnel, who attended the 77th Republic Day Parade as Special Guests, Rajnath Singh remarked that self-reliance has become a national ethos under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

He added that, thanks to the government’s self-reliance initiatives, defence exports, which were below Rs 1,000 crore in 2014, have surged to an unprecedented Rs 24,000 crore.