HYDERABAD: Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in R&D and production of aerospace ancillaries in the defence sector are on trajectory to achieve Rs. 800 crores to 1,000 crores turnover in five years, said Prahlada, Director, Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL).

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, he said that in the last few years, the Government had been spending about Rs. 4,000 crores a year on industries, academic institutions and R & D laboratories involved in the said activity. Today's entrepreneur was a technocrat and DRDL was a second-generation venture capitalist (VC), he said.

Elaborating on becoming a second-generation VC, he said while the first-generation VC offered funds and management practices, the DRDL was providing technology in addition to the first two, thus literally showing the path to SMEs. The 60-odd SMEs that had been working in the defence sector for almost 30 years were doing good work and there was promising growth, given the fact that India worked with countries like the USA, Russia, France, Korea and Israel.

It was not just the manufacturing facilities that were on the job, but several IT companies too were actively working in the field with several nations, he said, recalling that Infosys did design engineering for both aircraft-manufacturing majors, Boeing and Airbus. Growth in the SME sector and human resources would ensure that India propelled itself forward, the DRDL chief said, confidently.

Dr. Prahlada, who took over as the Chairman of the Hyderabad Chapter, Indian Society for Non-Destructive Testing (ISNT) for a two-year term, said he would embark on knowledge sharing and networking between industries and medical facilities using x-ray machines, ultrasound and CT scans. "Our aim will be to reduce the import component and be more indigenous", he said.

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