KC NEWS DESK
Jammu: Chief of Staff, Northern Command Lieutenant General Anindya Sengupta Wednesday stated that the ensuing North Tech Symposium would “become a harbinger for intertwining and synergising the requirements of the Indian army with the potential and capabilities of the academia and the industry.”
The Defence Minister, Minister of Technology, Lieutenant Governors of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff and a host of senior army officers will attend the event.
The three-day event will be held from September 11 to 13, 2023.
He made these remarks during a North Tech Symposium 2023- curtain raiser media brief here at IIT Jammu. Director IIT Jammu, DG SIDM and Advisor to DG SIDM accompanied him during the presser.
Lt Gen Sengupta said that the operational and logistics challenges confronting Northern Command necessitated customised, dedicated solutions.
“While Northern Command has taken big strides in the past years to bridge the gap between what we have and what we need, this year’s North Tech Symposium is a giant leap reinforcing this endeavour. This is an annual event conducted in Northern Command since its inception in 2005. In its earlier Avataar, this event was organised as a combination of equipment and idea or innovations display, however, over the years it has been restructured to promote state of the art Defence Technology and encourage “Atamnirbharta (self-reliance),” he said.
Emphasising upon the theme of this year’s event “Synergy in research, development and innovation for modernisation of the military”, Lt Gen Sengupta said, “We seek to address our “needs” through an inclusive approach, bringing the Indian Army, defence industry and academia onto a collaborative platform.”
He said that North Tech Symposium 2023 was unique in the sense that major activities were being held at the IIT Jammu campus. “Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), a nonprofit association, formed as the apex body of the Indian Defence Industry under the umbrella of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), has done wonders in garnering the registration of nearly 200 industry partners and 50 startups for the event,” he informed.
Towards capability development of the Northern Command, a variety of weapon platforms and equipment were procured under the ambit of Army Commander’s Special Financial Powers (ACSFP) and Other Capital Procurement Procedure (OCPP). Additionally, major impetus had also been given to upgradations, overhauls, modifications and refurbishment of existing equipment to restore or enhance the operational capability besides giving them a fresh lease of life, Lt Gen Sengupta said.
He said that the current annual budget towards these efforts was of the order of Rs 1,000 crore and increasing. “Northern Command has also commenced reaching out to academic institutes and has started evolving problem statements towards meaningful requirement-oriented research with the academia.
Lt Gen Sengupta pointed out that the modernization plan of the defence forces was focussed on capability development through ‘Self-reliant defence eco system’ following the Make-In-India pursuit.
“The Indian Army is a major participant in the ‘Make In India’ initiative to transform itself into a modern, Atmanirbhar and technology advanced force. Northern Command with its focus on operation has itself remained at the forefront of this drive,” he said.
