New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) have been set up in order to attract total investment worth Rs 20,000 crore by 2024-25 for defence industries, develop domestic supply chain and strengthen defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country, the Parliament was told on Monday.
Minister of Defence Ajay Bhatt, in a written reply, told the Rajya Sabha that in the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC), there are six nodes – Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Chitrakoot, and Lucknow, and in Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC) five nodes – Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem, and Tiruchirappalli.
The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is the nodal agency for the UPDIC and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is the nodal agency for the TNDIC and both states have promulgated their respective Aerospace and Defence Policy to attract investments in DICs, he added.
As per available information, 108 MoUs have been signed with industry and organisations in the UPDIC having potential investment of Rs 12,191 crore. Investment of Rs 2,445 crore has been made and 1,611 hectare land acquired so far.
In Tamil Nadu, arrangements have been made through MoUs etc with 53 industries for potential investment of Rs 11,794 crore. Investment worth Rs 3,894 crore has been made and 910 hectare land has been acquired so far, Bhatt added.
The DICs have been established to develop a holistic defence manufacturing ecosystem which is a progressive and ongoing process, he said.
The defence industry sector was opened up in May 2001 for up to 100 per cent Indian private sector participation. Since then till date, a total of 606 Industrial Licenses have been issued to 369 companies operating in the defence sector, the Minister said.
