Article Posted on : - Dec 31, 2010

NEW DELHI (PTI): Being established for boosting research and encouraging private participation in the defence sector, the Defence Technology Commission is expected to be functional by February next year.

The Commission under Defence Minister AK Antony is being set up after the Government agreed to implement the recommendations of a Committee under former Science and Technology Secretary P Rama Rao to restructure DRDO, Ministry officials said here.

It is expected to be functional from February 2011.

The Commission forms part of a series of measures aimed at transforming and revitalising the DRDO in form and substance, they said.

The Commission would be based at the DRDO headquarters here and would be supported by a Secretariat there.

In May this year, the Defence Ministry had taken several key decisions on DRDO including its de-centralisation and making it a leaner organisation by merging some of its laboratories with other public-funded institutions with similar discipline, interest and administrative system.

Under the measures, the Ministry plans to engage an eminent Human Resource (HR) expert as consultant to revamp the entire HR structure of DRDO and establish a commercial arm of the organisation.

To increase private participation in DRDO activities, it has also been decided to select industry partners through a transparent process by evolving a suitable mechanism.

DRDO would also ensure full autonomy to all laboratories as far as science and technology initiatives were concerned. While empowering the directors of the laboratories, DRDO would put in a mechanism in place to ensure the accountability of the laboratory directors.

One of the major recommendations of the Rama Rao Committee was to make DRDO leaner by merging some of its laboratories with other public funded institutions having similar discipline, interests and administrative systems.

The new commercial arm of DRDO would be a private limited company with a seed capital of about Rs 2 crore. It would deal only with spin-off products and technologies meant for civilian use.