Aero India 2015 under way here has seen competition to host Karnataka from no fewer than four States. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have pitched stalls and courted investors at the show.
Chhattisgarh, participating for the first time, has put up a modest stall and requested public sector defence units to set up manufacturing facilities there. “We have a lot of land, it is cheap and we are very much interested,” a Chhattisgarh official said.
Gujarat, which hosted a stall shaped like a commercial airliner, actively promoted its own air show near Ahmedabad. Its Civil Aviation Department showcased a proposed aviation park near Ahmedabad that will house flight simulators, aero sports and an aviation training institute.
On Friday, Telangana too attempted to woo investors. Apart from an aviation policy that is in the works, Industries Minister Jupally Krishna Rao emphasised the ease of acquiring land in the State. Its government has nearly 2.5 lakh acres in a land bank, of which 80,000 acres is “ready for immediate occupation.”
Despite a presentation by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday, the State’s stall has not taken off. However, during Mr. Chandrababu’s pitch to investors, he told them to use the Bengaluru aerospace ecosystem by setting up industries in towns in Andhra Pradesh that are just 50 km from the airport here. He even listed out concessions available for industries.
The competition does not seem to have fazed Karnataka. Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee said: “Companies are pragmatic. They know it will take 20 years for A.P. to match the infrastructure present in Bengaluru.”
This article has been corrected for an editing error.
