Hoping to tap the huge base of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the state to become potential suppliers to the defence sector, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be virtually inaugurating the Indigenisation Summit on Defence and Aerospace (ISDA 2021) on July 28.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and Chief Executive Officer of UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority Awanish Awasthi said in Lucknow on Saturday that the MSMEs could be effectively tapped to become potential suppliers to the defence sector with the right guidance on the requirements and ISDA aimed at taking a step in this direction. “The UPEIDA being the nodal agency for development of UP Defence Industrial Corridor can further embolden the move with its lucrative land rates, enabling policy and upcoming common facilitation centre near the CCS International Airport in Amausi,” he said.
The defence and aerospace sector in India is at an inflection point, given the modernisation and indigenisation programmes being undertaken by all three services of the second largest military force in the world with the fifth largest defence budget in the world. The defence sector is one of the key sectors under Make in India initiative of the Union government which has huge potential to boost manufacturing capability and employment in the country. The importance of the sector can be highlighted from the fact that it is poised to reach $26 billion by 2025 as per the government projections.
ISDA 2021 Chairman and Chairman of CII Northern Regional Committee on Defence, Manoj Gupta, remarked, “The MSMEs play a pivotal role in the defence manufacturing sector and act as incubation sector for defence technology. Aiming to improve the MSME ecosystem and boost domestic R&D manufacturing in the country, the Central and UP governments have been initiating several steps. At CII, we are trying to supplement the government efforts through this summit by bringing various wings of defence services and industry at a common platform to create a better understanding of the demand and supply in the sector. The HAL, DRDO, Bharat Electronics & Ordnance Equipment Factory, Kanpur would be conducting vendor development programmes during the four-day summit.”
Urging the industry for participation, Chairman of SIDM UP, Sachin Agarwal, said, “Given the regulatory environment in the country coupled with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the time is ripe for the Indian MSMEs to enter defence and aerospace manufacturing. This is a unique opportunity where the DPSUs and senior personnel from the Indian defence segments would be interacting with the manufacturing enterprises.”
