Jamshedpur : The one-day Industry Conclave titled ‘Indigenization of Materials (IndiMat-2025): Challenges & Opportunities in Strategic Sector’ was held today at the CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory in Jamshedpur.
Organized as part of the Platinum Jubilee Celebration of the institute, the event served as a dynamic platform for collaboration among industry leaders, R&D experts, and end-users with a focus on advancing indigenous material solutions in strategic sectors aligned with global standards.
Jasbir Singh Solanki, CEO of Naval Systems, Homeland & Cyber Security at Mahindra Defence, Pune, graced the occasion as the chief guest.
The conclave commenced with a ceremonial lamp-lighting, followed by an insightful address by Dr. Sandip Ghosh Chowdhury, director of CSIR-NML.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Chowdhury emphasized the critical role of industry-R&D collaboration in driving technological and commercial progress for India.
He also outlined CSIR-NML’s historic contributions toward self-reliance in the metallurgical sector.
Dr. S. Sivaprasad, conclave chairman, highlighted CSIR-NML’s key initiatives in strategic domains such as new alloy development, structural health monitoring, non-destructive evaluation, and life assessment.
In his inaugural address, Jasbir Singh Solanki lauded Mahindra Defence’s strides in cyber security and underwater surveillance systems and urged Indian manufacturers to become global leaders.
He underscored the vital importance of R&D-industry synergy in achieving global competitiveness.
The conclave featured two technical sessions, comprising eleven keynote presentations from eminent representatives across defence, aerospace, and industrial sectors.
Session 1 included speakers like Atul K. Srivastava (L&T), Kundan Singh (Metal & Steel Factory, Ichhapur), Dr. B. Basu (Naval Materials Research Lab), V. N. Anil Kumar (HAL), and Anand Dubey (Vedanta Ltd.).
Each shared insights into their organization’s indigenization initiatives, including development of new materials and manufacturing techniques.
Dubey highlighted the shift towards aluminium alloys to enhance efficiency through lightweight design and shared updates on Vedanta’s collaborative R&D in niche Al-alloys for defence.
Session 2 featured presentations by Dr. D. S. Bag (DMSRDE Kanpur), Dr. N. Eswara Prasad (MGIT Hyderabad), Commander Vishal Katheria (Indian Navy), Wing Commander Praveen Narayan (IAF), Dr.-Ing. C.V.S. Kiran (Skyroot Aerospace), and Dr. Ramprasad B. (ISRO).
Each brought unique perspectives on the challenges and innovations driving material indigenization in defence and space sectors.
The conclave concluded with a thought-provoking expert panel discussion on ‘Way Forward towards Self-Reliant Indian Defence and Space Sector: Roadmap for R&D-Industry Handholding’.
The dialogue emphasized the need for unified efforts among industry, research institutions, and end-users to accelerate India’s journey toward strategic self-reliance.
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