Chennai Oct 3 (IANS) The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is ready to extend financial support to promote a common automotive research body to develop new products, said a top defence scientist. “World over technologies developed for defence use, later come to the usage of the masses. There are a lot of areas where DRDO and the domestic auto industry can work together,” P. Sivakumar, project director (Arjun), Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment said here Friday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conference on Automotive R&D Trends 2015, Sivakumar said the organisation has already mooted the idea to SAEINDIA - the engineering society for advanced mobility.

According to him, a separate research organisation could be floated in which auto industry players can be members.

“Today many hi-tech products - like sensors - that are fitted in Indian cars are imported. Such items can be developed by a common research body for the larger benefit of the auto industry,” he added.