52 individuals, 34 start-ups awarded, 7 projects sanctioned under DRDO's 'Dare to Dream' Contest

New Delhi, Dec 13: A total of 5,637 applications have been received under the DRDO organized three Dare to Dream Contests to promote individual and start-ups for innovation in the area of Defence and Aerospace in last three years, shared Union Minister of state for Defence, Ajay Bhatt in Rajya Sabha.

 

 

 

According to the report of the Defence ministry, a total of 52 individuals and 34 start-ups have been awarded under three 'Dare to Dream' contests out of 5,637 applications received in last three years. A total of 7 projects have been sanctioned and awarded to start-ups of Dare to Dream contest winners so far. DRDO has been launching the 'Dare to Dream' Contest every year since 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

The aim of the contest is to bring together innovators, entrepreneurs, individuals above 18 years and start-ups for innovative ideas in the field of Defence & Aerospace. The selection criteria for evaluation of the entries are completeness of proposal, scientific soundness, design completeness, merit, technological readiness level achieved and innovation. The selected individual and company are getting benefitted as DRDO supports them to realize awarded ideas into Prototype through Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme.

 

Besides, with focus on indigenization and procurement from domestic industries, all the major areas of domestic defence production ecosystem such as weapons, ammunition, fighter aircrafts, helicopters, missile systems, warships, submarines, armored vehicles, radars, communication systems, surveillance systems and more have benefited from several govt initiatives thus providing boost to the growth of domestic industries including MSMEs and start-ups.