Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said in Ahmedabad Design Week 3.0 that as far as the army is concerned, 85% of what we buy comes from Indian companies. General Naravane said that the defence corridors in Chennai and Lucknow have helped in changing the entire picture of the defence industry. In order to make the country self-reliant in the field of defence production, great importance is being given to these defence corridors.
The government intends to produce high-quality defence materials and weapons in these defence corridors. Also, due to these corridors, the development of industries in that area will also get a boost. Along with this, local industries will also be able to connect with the global supply chain for defence production. India’s ambition is also to become an exporting country in the defence sector by making the Defense Corridor.
Significantly, in the budget speech in 2018-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the creation of two defence corridors. Of these, the first has been made in five cities of Tamil Nadu and the second in six cities of Uttar Pradesh. The Tamil Nadu Corridor is the first defence corridor in the country for manufacturing and production of defence materials in the cities of Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchirappalli. While the UP Defense Corridor built in Agra, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi and Chitrakoot is the second defence corridor of the country.
The Ministry of Defense has made a list of 101 such goods, whose import will be stopped from 2020 to 2024. The government hopes that some big international companies of the defence sector can set up their plants in India as well. Due to this India’s presence in the international arms supply chain will increase.
