Chennai

Speaking at the inaugural of the three-day High Energy Materials Conference and Exhibit (HEMCE 2019), organised by IIT-Madras in collaboration with SDSC here, he said, ‘’We have reached a fair amount of efficiency in solid propellants and are among the leading nations in the world.’’

He said SDSC was the largest producer of solid propellants in the country, producing nearly 2,000 tonnes. ‘’We are glad to know that many industries are coming forward to work in this field.’’

Conveying his gratitude to IIT-Madras, as the SDSC has benefited from collaboration with its faculty, he said, ‘’We have to develop green fuels and I wish the conference to look into this area.”

MSR Prasad, director general, Missile and Strategic systems, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said,”DRDO has been actively working in high energy materials for missiles and armament materials. It involves a lot of effort to develop different types of propellants for different types of missiles. HMRL, Pune, has put in a lot of R and D to develop smokeless and other types of propellants, besides propellants from ramjet technology, which would be a game-changer for air launch systems.” It is for the industry to ensure quality raw materials were applied so that there is high quality in propellants, he stated and added that focussed R and D has to be carried in this field and DRDO has set up Centres of Excellences in various institutions including IIT-Madras and IIT-Bombay.

Delivering the inaugural address, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit said India, with its sensitive neighbourhood, requires high energy materials such as propellants and explosives to drive national security and technological and scientific prowess.

The SHAR Space Centre at Sriharikota, is now well known throughout the world thanks to the work of the scientists, he added.

This conference enables constructive collaboration between scientists across the world and help keep up to date with latest advancements in the field, he stated.

An armament display along with an Industry Meet was held in which leaders from propellant and explosive industry had a discussion with end users of Armed forces (Lt Gen SS Hasbanis, PVSM, VSM, ADC) on how to take the Indian Propellant and Explosive industry forward.

The conference is a forum for specialists in high energy materials from all over the world to present the latest progress and developments in the field.

HEMSI organises international conference-cum-exhibition once in two years with the participation of around 500 delegates from India and abroad and this year, it was held at IIT Madras.

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