The Tamil Nadu defence industrial corridor is set to be launched later this month as part of the Centre’s efforts to build an indigenous defence production ecosystem.
“Apart from major industry interaction there will be three main things — announcement of new investments both by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and the private sector, launch of new defence products and launch of a defence innovation hub in Coimbatore,” Secretary, Defence Production, Ajay Kumar, told the media on Monday. The corridor will be formally launched by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at Tiruchirappalli on January 20. Two defence corridors — one in Tamil Nadu and the other in Uttar Pradesh — were announced in the last budget.
The Uttar Pradesh corridor was launched at Aligarh in August last year and saw investment announcements to the tune of ₹3,732 crore being made. One of the reasons for Tamil Nadu being chosen for the corridor, Mr. Kumar said, is that it is already a major manufacturing State and has a major auto components hub.
Ideally suited
“Tamil Nadu will be very good for aero components due to its auto expertise and proximity to Bengaluru,” he said, talking about the future scope of the corridors. He said there is a fair momentum for export of aero components.
Multinational consultancy firm EY has been tasked with drawing up a roadmap on how the cluster is envisioned to grow. The corridor, like the one in U.P., will have six nodes around which investments are expected to grow. They include Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and Chennai.
The Coimbatore District Small Industries Association will take the lead in the hub and has already come out with a plan to promote defence innovation. The hub is expected to get ₹20 crore from the Defence Innovation Organisation.