File picTaking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious “Make in India” initiative a step further, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will launch a defence industrial corridor in Aligarh of Uttar Pradesh.
In 2014, Modi had launched the initiative to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub. Among the 25 key sectors, defence manufacturing was also identified for this initiative. The government has announced two corridors — one in Tamil Nadu and the other in UP. For the corridor in UP, six nodal points have been identified, viz. Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Jhansi. Stakeholder interactions have already been held in Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra and Jhansi, the defence ministry said in a statement. It added, “In the intervening period of almost 4 years, several steps have been taken to promote indigenisation in the defence sector.” Senior representatives from the DPSUs, Ordnance Factories and DRDO will also be present. There will be an exhibition of products by the Armed Forces/DPSUs/DRDO which are planned to be indigenised over the next five years.
