In an effort to give a fillip to create indigenous defence industrial ecosystem in the country, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will formally launch the Tamil Nadu defence corridor at Tiruchirappalli on January 20. It will be second such corridor after the first one in Uttar Pradesh was inaugurated in Aligarh in August last year.
Apart from major industry interaction there will be three main things. Announcement of new investments both by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and private sector, launch of some new defence products and launch of a defence innovation hub in Coimbatore, Secretary Defence Production Ajay Kumar told the media here on Monday. Two defence corridors -- one in Tamil Nadu and the other in Uttar Pradesh - was announced in this year’s budget.
On the reasons for Tamil Nadu being chosen for the corridor, Kumar said it is already a major manufacturing stare in the country and has a major auto component hub. Tamil Nadu will be very good for aero components due to its auto expertise and proximity to Bangalore, he said talking of the future scope of the corridors and stating that there is a fair momentum for export of aero components from India and has a huge scope for further growth. Multinational consultancy firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) has been appointed as a consultant to draw a roadmap on how the cluster is envisioned to grow.
The corridor like the one in UP will have six nodes around which investments are expected to grow. They include Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and Chennai. The nodes stand out as key areas growing industrialisation, Kumar added.
Coimbatore industry body Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) will take the lead in the innovation hub and has already come out with a plan to promote defence innovation which otherwise is known for non-defence precision engineering.