New Delhi: With Uttar Pradesh being among the two states to have a Defence Manufacturing Corridor, the State Government is looking to hard sell it to the top global firms in the sector amid the defence deals worth US$3 billion signed by India and US during the US President Donald Trump’s visit to this country.
The state has planned to organise a conclave of top global defence and military hardware manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Boeing, CAE in Lucknow next month.
In the recent DefExpo 2020, the Yogi Adityanath government signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for investment worth Rs 50,000 crore with 23 private companies in the UP Defence Manufacturing Corridor.
As India aims to achieve US$5 billion worth of defence exports in the next five years, the state government is looking to become a major hub of military hardware and aviation manufacturing, and contribute towards the ambitious federal target.
“We are planning to organise a meeting with the representatives of top defence manufacturers next month. The dates would be finalised after the conclusion of the ongoing UP legislature session,” UP industrial development minister Satish Mahana said.
This would provide an opportunity to the investors as also prospective investors to air their grievances and offer valuable suggestions to the state government to tweak its existing defence manufacturing and aviation policy for speedier industrialisation.
Meanwhile, Mahana, while addressing the CII UP State Council annual session, said DefExpo 2020 had acted as a great force multiplier for the UP defence manufacturing sector and amply showcased the potential of the state.
“UP’s target to become a US$5 trillion economy by 2024 is not possible without the composite development of the industrial sector,” he said, adding industrialists were the best brand ambassadors of the state in its pursuit of attracting greater investment.
He said the proposed Jewar international airport at Greater Noida had either been given all the required clearances, including forest and environment, or the process was underway and the same would be provided in the next few days so that the actual work could begin in right earnest.
Besides this, Mahana said the state government would soon finalise the dates for the proposed Global Investors Summit, which is likely to be held in October-November 2020.
“We have planned to organise roadshows in India and foreign countries in run up to the Summit. However, things would start moving only after we get the required go ahead and dates from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO),” he informed.
The state plans to launch roadshows from April-May this year, since it would take nearly six months to build a momentum to the mega event and search for the potential investors as well, he added.
The roadshows would be organised in the US, the UK, Russia, UAE, the Netherlands, China, Canada, France.
