Gandhinagar. The 12th edition of five-day defence extravaganza DefExpo 2022 with the theme ‘Path to Pride’ slated as the biggest-ever DefExpo, exclusively for Indian companies, which begins October 18 in Gandhinagar will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 19 will showcase the growing prowess of the domestic defence industry to achieve ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ vision in keeping with the government’s ambitious “Atmanirbhar Bharat” .
In keeping with the aim of making it a show to remember, Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, is all decked up to play host to India’s biggest-ever defence exhibition till date.
The show would provide a platform for leading Indian industrialists with theme “Invest for Defence” to contribute to Government’s efforts towards development of defence industrial ecosystem.
The DefExpo 2022 will showcase the growing prowess of the domestic defence industry, which is one of the major drivers of the nation’s resolve to achieve ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ as envisioned by the Prime Minister. The biennial exhibition has been organised to support, showcase and forge partnerships for the Indian aerospace and defence manufacturing sectors with Indian as well as global customers to achieve the overall objective of catering to domestic requirements while fulfilling the needs of friendly foreign countries.
Even as the focus would be on boosting indigenous defence companies, the DefExpo would see participation by 75 countries providing an opportunity to Indian companies to do business with foreign counterparts and a large number of B2B or Business to Business sessions are also on the cards.
The show is expected to see the inking of 451 MoUs, Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreements and product launches while another major event would be the India-Africa Defence Dialogue and Indian Ocean Region plus conclave aimed at promoting peace and security and establishing new defence and industrial partnerships.
The show would also see ‘Invest for Defence’ a platform for eminent industrialists to contribute to Government’s efforts towards development of defence industrial ecosystem
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said ahead of the show that “DefExpo 2022 during ‘Amrit Kaal’ reflects India’s resolve to be among the leading nations in the defence and aerospace sectors in the next 25 years. Under the dynamic leadership of our PM Modi, the defence sector has made giant strides on ‘Path to Pride‘ with passion and dedication to achieve the goal of ‘Atmanirbharta’ in defence. We are swiftly moving towards becoming the pioneers in design, development and manufacturing at a global level. We are witnessing a transformational journey from being the largest defence importer to a net exporter. This DefExpo will further accelerate the pace of this journey.”
The show is being held in the largest-ever total area of over one lakh sqm (previous edition being 76,000 sqm) and with record registration of 1,340 companies. For the first time, the event has been organised in a four-venue format.
DefExpo 2022 will be the first-ever edition exclusively for Indian companies with Indian subsidiaries of Foreign OEMs, Division of company registered in India, Exhibitor having Joint Venture with an Indian company will be considered as Indian participants. The DefExpo 2022 will also mark the celebration of one year of the formation of the seven new defence companies, carved out of the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board. All these companies will participate in DefExpo for the first time.
The India Pavilion – a marque pavilion of Department of Defence Production – will showcase the maturity of indigenous defence products, start-ups and latest technology, including Artificial Intelligence in defence, while presenting India’s vision for 2047. In addition, there will be an exclusive Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) Pavilion to showcase the prowess of the country’s start-ups carrying out R&D and innovation in futuristic technologies.
For the first time, States and Union Territories (UTs) have been invited to set up pavilions at the event with emphasis on this new initiative being that States and UTs will get an opportunity to participate in nation building by attracting investment and bolstering their potential of indigenous aerospace and defence manufacturing.
Among the major attractions at this event would be the live demonstrations showcasing the equipment and skill set of the Armed Forces, DPSUs and Industry which will be held on all five days at Sabarmati River Front through active participation and synchronised efforts at all levels. The demonstrations include Sarang Acrobatic display, search and rescue, combat free fall and paratrooper activities. Ship visits have been organised for public by Indian Navy and Indian Coast at Porbandar.
Another highlight of the event will be the biggest-ever drone-show by IIT Delhi start-up Botlabs, which is an iDEX winner. Around 1,600 drones will light up the sky during the show on October 19, which will be a public event.
For the first time, ‘Invest for Defence’, the first ever marquee event of Ministry of Defence, is targeted to promote investment in the defence sector in the country both by the Indian industry as well Foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers, will be held. It will be inaugurated by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on October 20.
Mr Singh stated that the event will be an important platform for eminent industrialists as they can contribute to the Government’s efforts towards development of the defence industrial ecosystem in the country and become a part of the ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ resolve. He said the event will promote the growth of MSMEs and start-ups in the country so that they can become participants in the global supply chain and generate new employment opportunities.
Defence Minister Awards for Excellence in Defence Manufacturing is also being organised for the first time during DefExpo.
The DefExpo would see seminars held in a hybrid format, enabling the speakers as well as the audience to participate virtually. These will be streamed worldwide on the YouTube channel of Department of Defence Production. The seminars will be conducted by the leading Industry Associations, Think Tanks, Indian Defence Public Sector Entities, Service Headquarters (SHQs), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA), Ministry of Civil Aviation and State Government.
These seminars will broadly cover topics such as Exports, Financing and Investments in Defence Start-ups and MSMEs, Emerging role of MSME in Aerospace manufacturing and MRO, Atmanirbharta in Defence R&D, Futuristic Autonomous Technologies for Air Dominance. Leading international and national experts from Defence and Aerospace sector are the speakers for various seminars.
