New Delhi, Jun 8 (IANS): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved enhancement of funding under Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme of the Ministry of Defence to Rs 50 crore per project from Rs 10 crore, said a statement from the Ministry Of Defence on Wednesday.

The TDF scheme, executed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), supports indigenous development of components, products, systems and technologies by MSMEs and startups.

The TDF Scheme aims to provide a major fillip to the defence manufacturing sector by encouraging the industry to innovate and develop defence technologies in order to place India on the self-reliance trajectory.

The scheme facilitates up to 90 per cent of the total project cost and allows industry to work in consortium with another industry/academia.

With the enhanced funding, the industry and startups will be able to develop more complex technologies for existing and future weapon systems and platforms. Till date, 56 projects have been sanctioned under TDF scheme.

The 25 per cent of the Defence Research and Development budget was earmarked for private industry, startups and academia in Union Budget 2022-23.