Kaveri Engine Get's New Lease Of Life As Government Approves Rs 723 Crore For Derivative Engine

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New Delhi: The Central government has approved Rs 723.59 crore for two projects under the Kaveri Derivative Engine (KDE) programme, which aims to power India’s future unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), informed Parliament on Friday (25 July).

In a written response to BJP MP Tejasvi Surya in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth announced the sanction of two key KDE projects. These include the “Flightworthy Kaveri Dry Engine Development” with a budget of 472.42 crore, and “Technology Demonstration of Kaveri Derivative 'Dry' Engine” costing ₹251.17 crore. The Kaveri Derivative Engine is a non-afterburning version of the original Kaveri engine initially developed for the Tejas fighter but repurposed for unmanned aircraft after the original engine did not meet thrust requirements. The dry variant is expected to produce thrust in the range of 49 to 51 kiloNewtons.

Minister Seth also highlighted that the Defence Ministry has been allocating significant funds for indigenous defence technology research and development. Over the past three years, projects worth more than Rs 29,550 crore have been sanctioned to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

To foster innovation, DRDO has set up 15 DRDO Industry Academia Centres of Excellence (DIA-CoE) across the country at institutions such as IISc Bangalore, various IITs, and Central and State Universities. These centres support focused research for developing new defence and security technologies. Additionally, DRDO labs have opened several high-quality test facilities for industry use, along with established standard operating procedures (SOPs) to facilitate this collaboration.

DRDO has also launched the Technology Development Fund (TDF) to financially support Indian industries in designing and developing innovative defence products.