Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh gives away RM Awards for Excellence in defence & aerospace sector for 2021-22; Terms them as hidden gems & catalysts to achieve ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision at a faster pace

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh gave away Raksha Mantri’s Awards for Excellence in defence and aerospace sector for the year 2021-22 to Indian Defence Industries, including the private sector, at an event organised as part of 12th DefExpo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on October 20, 2022. A total of 22 awards were given under various categories viz. Indigenisation/Import substitution, Innovation/ Technological Breakthrough and Exports. Of these 22 awards, 13 were bagged by private industries and the remaining by the DPSUs/PSUs. These awards were equitably given to enterprises of various sizes, i.e., large, medium, small and start-up enterprises in order to provide a level playing field.

In his address, the Raksha Mantri emphasised that the core objectives of these awards are to encourage and reward all-round excellence in various dimensions of organisational performance, facilitate widening and deepening of industrial base in Indian defence and aerospace sector by identifying ‘hidden gems’, especially from MSME/ start-Up segment and promoting them as role models for others. He appreciated the fact that the awards have been re-established from 2022, incorporating private industries. This will boost the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ of the government and encourage the development of these companies, he said.

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