The two-day DRDO Directors' Conclave 2024 commenced at Armament Research & Development Establishment, Pune on October 25, 2024. This annual event of DRDO was inaugurated by Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V. Kamat. In his address, the DRDO Chairman stressed upon the criticality of technology leadership in today's evolving global scenario. He emphasised the need for DRDO to Reform, Perform and Transform as an organisation to realise Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi-led Government's vision of Aatmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat.

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command Lt General Dhiraj Seth delivered a plenary talk on harnessing next-gen technologies for future conflicts, and the role of DRDO in building a self-reliant defence ecosystem.

Various sessions in line with the theme 'Transforming DRDO for Redefined Defence R&D' are being held during the conclave. The aim is to inform the participants about the series of DRDO reforms that have been implemented or under implementation towards making DRDO a more efficient organisation.

The event features deliberations on developing a robust R&D ecosystem by extensively engaging the industry and the academia towards making the country a leading nation in defence technology. Various brainstorming sessions, and plenary talks for capacity enhancement in defence R&D through the participation of academia and industry are being organised. The conclave will conclude with sharing of ideas and suggestions towards setting a path forward.

Top officials of DRDO, including DGs of various technology & corporate clusters, Directors and Programme Directors of labs, Corporate Directors of headquarters and Integrated Financial Advisers, are participating in the event.