Amongst the three wings of the Indian Defense system, the Air Force and Navy use more technology, relatively speaking, than the Army, which has a greater emphasis on physical human power. Think about it this way: when a pilot is up in the air, there is an immense amount of technology needed to keep him or her up there and have them be successful in their mission. So, if I was thinking as an opportunistic entrepreneur, I would start by writing proposals to the Indian Air Force and Navy for technology indigenization.
As a Google-happy entrepreneur, you might start by searching through the list of open tenders and writing a few proposals to see what sticks (I will be following shortly with a post on writing proposals).
OR you can do this and save yourself a few hundred hours:
The Indian Air Force has a well organized website with an entire section on “Make in India”. It has, for example, a list of open indigenization projects. [Edit: This link is broken as of Feb 15th 2021. If you go to https://indianairforce.nic.in/ and then Click on “Make in India”, “Indigenization”, “Indigenization Requirements of IAF”, you will reach the right place.] If I scroll down the list published on 16th August 2019, I would find myself interested in the code scan card and the NAV display circuit card. But these lists do not have enough information. For example, which system is this card a member of, what role does the card play, what documentation survives if any, whether you can see a working card in operation during a site visit. In other words, you have a picture and a tweet-able description, but not enough information to put in a credible, and for you — profitable, proposal. Remember that a proposal is only profitable to you as an entrepreneur if you can deliver the final product within your budget, and get it approved, and get paid for it.
I will tell you the secret trick to get going on this path: locate the contact details of the BRDs, which are the Base Repair Depots (around 13 of them, all over the country). Every BRD specializes in a different class of equipment used by the Indian Air Force. Every quarter, each of the BRDs hosts an open event where they invite vendors to see what products they would like to be indigenized. To get on the list of invitees, all you have to do is register yourself with the BRD. This is done by the simple act of filling out a form that the BRD will give you when you approach them (see above).
So here’s what you should do that no one tells you about: call in to ask for this form and get yourself registered.
You might ask: why am I telling everyone the secret trick on a public blog, instead of saving it for my kin and my friends? I will tell you about in a little bit. On why I believe that a rich and vibrant technical ecosystem helps everyone in my post on culturing vendors.
PRAVAK 