Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh University commemorates Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s birth anniversary with expert talk by Dr Prahlada Ramarao
DRDO Scientist Dr Prahlada Ramarao Praises Dr Kalam’s Vision for Making India Self-Reliant in Defense Sector, says Akash has lifted India’s standing as a Defense Manufacturer
Babushahi Bureau
Mohali (Punjab), October 15, 2025: Chandigarh University (CU) commemorated the birth anniversary of former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam by organizing an Expert Talk, titled “Akash – Guarding the Skies” by former DRDO scientist and Padma Shri awardee Dr Prahlada Ramarao who led the development of India’s indigenous missile shield ‘Akash’ which protected India from incoming Pakistani drones and missiles during ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Organised by CU’s Avionautics Club in association with the Aerospace Engineering Department and Kalpana Chawla Centre for Research in Space Science and Technology (KCCRSST) to commemorate the legacy of Dr Kalam, this Expert Talk was attended by Dr Prahlada Ramarao, former Project Director of the Akash programme who handpicked by India’s ‘Missile Man’ Dr Kalam the early 1990s to lead the development of the surface-to-air system over a 15-year period, as Chief Guest.
In his theme-based talk, the Chief Guest Dr Prahlada Ramarao, who was appointed the youngest project director at just 35 to lead the Akash programme, said, “Operation Sindoor has changed the way the government can face the world today.
“Post Operation Sindoor, it’s much different. The government and the people are very confident that we can handle any eventuality. The way our Prime Minister or the defense minister talks is so confident because they know whatever is required to be done, they will handle it,”.
“Scientifically, technically, and in terms of management, India today stands among the leading nations of the world. You are fortunate to be part of this great country at such a time. I urge all of you to contribute towards Viksit Bharat 2047—ask yourselves, ‘What can I do for Viksit Bharat 2047?’ This is your golden era. I truly admire and envy the opportunities you have today, opportunities that were not available to us earlier. Make the most of them. Strive to achieve something remarkable for our nation, and together, let’s ensure that India becomes a fully developed nation well before 2047,” he added.
Praising Dr Kalam’s vision for making India self-reliant in the Defense Sector, Dr Ramarao said, “As a good leader, Dr Kalam mentored young scientists for this. He used to give credit for the success of a project to his team, but he also took the blame of failures on himself. Dr Kalam used to say, “Any failure is my failure. I will handle it and, on success, he will tell the team to celebrate it. This is how he kept the team in good spirit,”.
The Padma Shri awardee Dr Ramarao, who is widely respected for his decades-long contributions to India’s defense and aerospace programs, said, “Akash, the indigenous supersonic multiple target handling surface to air missile system, is a success story of Make in India. Akash has achieved great success by creating huge wealth, employment and saving important foreign exchange to the country. As Akash is internationally competitive in performance and cost, it has uplifted the image of the country that could develop and induct a complex world class SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile) system”.
The renowned defense technologist who has played a key role in development of several strategic systems including the Akash, BrahMos, Prithvi, Agni, and Nag missiles said, “Akash has achieved great success by creating huge wealth, employment and saving important foreign exchange to the country. As compared to Rs 20 crore for an imported missile, our missile costs just about Rs 4 Crore. Imagine how much savings we have made,”.
“We have made a missile system (Akash) which is superior to the US' Patriot Air Defense Missile System. It’s light and much cheaper because it costs about one tenth of the cost of the US missile, it’s faster, multiple target handling, the development cost and unit cost is much lower. That’s its most cost-effective missile system. So, from the first order of 100 missiles, now we are producing thousands of these missiles for the Indian Army. We are delivering it to Armenia and now also to the Philippines. There are so many countries looking for it. So, the number of such countries will go up. That way, the technology level of Indian industries has gone up. The wealth generation with this has gone up, the standing and competitiveness of our nation has gone up and so these are the good things which have emerged,” he added.
After the Expert Talk, Dr Prahlad Ramarao visited the KCCRSST, the state-of-the-art space Centre at Chandigarh University for training students in space science and satellite development. There he also participated in a Panel Discussion, themed ‘Enhancing Curriculum with Industry-Oriented Skills in Aerospace and Defense”.