Anil Urs Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which took part in the country’s premier aerospace event, Aero India 2021, have got orders worth over ₹203 crore.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking at the ‘Start-up Manthan’ organised by Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) at the Air Force Station, here on Friday said, “These 45 MSMEs bagging orders worth ₹203 crore is very heartening news and I am sure it will grow further.”

“In the aerospace sector, 300-plus start-ups are currently engaged and under iDEX, 10 start-ups have developed products worth ₹100 crore which have been showcased at the event,” he added.

‘Startup Manthan’ provides an opportunity for start-ups to showcase their capabilities, products and services to the targeted audience.

In this year’s Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC), more than 1,200 start-ups and innovators took part and out of these more than 60 start-ups in 30 technological areas under DISC challenges were recognised.

The Defence Minister said, “It is a crucial factor for maintaining India’s strategic autonomy. The iDEX initiative stands out as one of the most effective and well-executed defence start-up ecosystems created in our country.”

“Our commitment to ensure that technologies developed by the start-up ecosystem act as force multipliers to the Indian military’s operational and combat capabilities has been highlighted in the latest version of Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020,” he added.

The government is acutely conscious that start-ups being the latest entrants in the defence manufacturing sector require that extra push, he added.

According to Singh, ₹4,500 crore of investment has been made in 384 start-ups through Fund of Funds Scheme. “In such an ecosystem, it will not be an exaggeration to say that our economy is soon going to be driven by these start-ups.”

Start up India programme today has an ecosystem of more than 41,000 start-ups and 4.7 lakh jobs reported by them, he said.

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