A high-level team of officials from the Defence Production will soon visit Maker Village, India’s largest electronic hardware incubator here, which may pave the way for startups from Kerala to enter the defence ecosystem.

This was revealed by Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production during his discussions with Prasad Balakrishnan Nair, CEO, Maker Village. The discussions took place on the sidelines of the second edition of Hardtech 2019, a National Deeptech Startup Conclave organised by Maker Village. Assuring that he will open the doors for startups to defence production, Kumar said the visiting team will comprise officials from Army, Navy and Air Force.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, Kumar, said his office has, for the first time, been keenly watching startups for solutions of various kinds. “Startups are going to be an important part of our defence ecosystem. Users like Army and Air Force want them to identify problems and seek ways to resolve them,” he said.

He recalled that a Defence India Startup Challenge the government launched last August received 520 outstanding proposals from new companies, much to the encouragement of the plan to leverage defence startups and connect them with the armed forces. Meanwhile, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has initiated a purchase order of Advanced Spray Coater developed by Delgado Coating and Technology Solutions, incubated at Maker Village.

This technology is used in solar cells as transparent electrode, touch-Screen (mobiles), flat panel displays, OLED’s, energy saving smart windows, nano-coating and devices bio-medical coatings over needles and surgical stents. This Advanced Spray Coater can slash the production cost by 30 per cent compared to the present technology used by other countries.

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