The Centre is keen on reviving, not selling, public sector enterprises (PSEs), Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told a gathering of industrialists during a discussion on Defence Industrial Corridor here on Friday.
“There is no substance in the accusation being made [in certain quarters] that the Centre was keen on selling the PSUs to private entities; the government is working towards reviving, re-energising and re-calibrating them,” she said.
Referring to the proposed Defence Industrial Corridor in Tamil Nadu, Ms. Sitharaman said the link to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bengaluru, would enable optimising the capacities of both the public and private sectors.
The HAL was able to supply only six to eight light combat aircraft against the Indian Air Force’s requirement of 123 fighter aircraft. A need had arisen to utilise the expertise of HAL to create more assembly lines elsewhere and involve the private sector to expand the production capacity.
The scope to attain self-reliance in defence products as also exports would be fully explored.
The market for Indian defence products in countries in African continent and South East Asia would be tapped, she said.
Representatives of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force would be deputed to the industry clusters in the fold of the defence corridor to specify requirements , the Defence Minister said and called upon private manufacturers to come with proposals about their products.
Defence expo
The Defence Expo near Chennai during April would serve as a platform for the private manufacturers to relate their capabilities with the requirements of the defence sector, Ms. Sitharaman said.
Industries Minister M.C. Sampath said the State government expected investments to the tune of ₹10,000 crore in the 260-acre Aerospace and Defence Park where five lakh sq.ft built-up space had been constructed at a cost of ₹180 crore.
Thanking the Defence Ministry for its support for the project, Mr. Sampath urged Ms. Sitharaman to consider the advantages of Chennai or Coimbatore as ideal location for manufacturing the fifth generation fighter aircraft being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation.
State Ministers P.Benjamin, Vellamandi N. Natarajan and S. Valarmathi; Additional Chief Secretary K. Gnanadesikan; District Collector K. Rajamani; senior officials of Defence Ministry; and representatives of industry organisations participated.
