New startup guidelines has been issued by the defence ministry of india

This week, the defence ministry of India has released new guidelines for indigenous startups. The rules are exclusively centered towards participation of startups in military projects. The rules are towards encouraging startups to undertake research projects to develop or upgrade weapon systems and to reduce the imports as well.

As per the new rules, startups recognized by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under certain categories will automatically qualify to take part in specified defence projects. These categories range from aeronautics, nanotechnology and Virtual Reality to renewable technology, robotics, green technology and internet of things. Projects with estimated cost of prototype development phase not exceeding Rs 3 crore, no separate technical or financial criteria (will) be defined for both startups and other than startups, to encourage their participation.

The report says there will be no government funding for developing the prototype there is an assurance of orders on successful development and trials of the prototype. The categories, the Army, Air Force and Navy have already identified 53 projects that can be taken up on priority under the rules. These include Maneuverable Expendable Aerial Targets (MEAT) for Army Air Defence, lightweight body Armour, a robotic surveillance platform, diesel engines for boats, limpet mines, air to ground rockets and long range glide bombs.

The Indian startup ecosystem is emerging at an amazing pace and keeping this in mind the latest rules looks effective.