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The government has eased access to its proof ranges, field firing ranges and laboratory testing facilities for the Indian defence industry, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approving a revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) aimed at reducing costs, paperwork and delays in testing indigenous weapons and defence systems.
Under the revised rules, proof and testing charges will be waived for iDEX, Technology Development Fund (TDF), Make and other developmental projects of the Ministry of Defence. The move is intended to lower the cost of developing and validating new defence technologies and accelerate the push for Atmanirbharta in defence.
The revised SOP brings together details of proof ranges, field firing ranges and laboratory test facilities available with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), government quality assurance agencies and the three Services, providing industry with a consolidated framework for accessing these facilities.
The Ministry has also simplified the procedure for calculating and paying testing charges in cases where fees remain applicable. Prescribed formats and procedures have been incorporated into the SOP to reduce documentation and make the process more predictable for companies.
In another significant change, the existing provision for arbitration has been replaced by a Conciliation Agreement Clause, aimed at providing a faster and less cumbersome mechanism for resolving disputes and other issues faced by indigenous defence companies while using government testing facilities.
The revised SOP also provides for a three-day slot every quarter at proof ranges for proof firing of developmental projects. These slots will cover government-sponsored initiatives, including iDEX, TDF and Make projects, as well as developmental projects undertaken independently by Indian defence companies.
The government sees easier access to testing infrastructure as an important component of its wider effort to support indigenous design and development, innovation and defence exports. For smaller firms and start-ups in particular, access to specialised government testing facilities can be critical for validating prototypes before they move towards production and procurement.
The revised framework is therefore intended not merely to streamline the use of existing defence infrastructure but also to make government testing capacity more accessible to the domestic industry, particularly for projects at the development stage, to benefit start-ups, MSMEs and defence exports.
Team BharatShakti
