Lucknow, Jan 7 (IANS) The 11th edition of the Defence Expo, scheduled to be held here from February 5 to 8, promises to be the biggest in terms of area and revenue.
The exhibition will also highlight emergence of Uttar Pradesh as an attractive destination for investment in the defence sector and act as a platform for alliances and joint ventures in the defence industry.
Uttar Pradesh already has a strong defence industrial infrastructure. It has four units of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd at Lucknow, Kanpur, Korwa and Naini (Prayagraj), nine ordnance factory units, including Kanpur, Korwa, Shahjahanpur, Firozabad and one unit of Bharat Electronics Limited at Ghaziabad.
One of the two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) in India, is in Uttar Pradesh. The Corridor will encourage Defence Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), including Indian defence industry and promote Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs). The other DIC is proposed in Tamil Nadu.
The DefExpo will provide an opportunity to the major foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to collaborate with the Indian defence industry and help promote the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
According to a government spokesman, the event will offer an opportunity for the Indian defence industry to showcase its capabilities and promote its export potential.
The main theme of the DefExpo India-2020 will be ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’ and focus will be on ‘Digital Transformation of Defence’.
The DefExpo will also provide a unique platform for Defence industry OEMs, exhibitors and private industry to display their latest innovations and capabilities.
The spokesman said that ministerial level delegations from the foreign countries and visitors from all over the country as well as abroad are expected to visit DefExpo and witness India’s emergence as a major manufacturing hub providing attractive opportunities for co-development and co-production of defence equipment and systems not only for our defence forces but also for export to the world.
So far, 925 exhibitors have registered for the event, of which 150 are from other countries.
Meanwhile, the state government is making massive preparations for the DefExpo and the entire state capital is being spruced up
A tent city is coming up at Vrindavan Development Scheme on the outskirts of Lucknow. The tent city will have 1,000 super deluxe and deluxe tents for guests. The government is also preparing for different events on the banks of the Gomti River.
–IANS
amita/dpb