K'taka pitches for Defence Technology Hub in state

Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], June 17 (ANI): Karnataka Medium and Large Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar on Thursday said that the state government has written a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking a declaration of defence technology hubs in the state, which is at the forefront of the country's aerospace and defence products.
Addressing a webinar at the Aerospace and Defence round table in Bangalore on Thursday, he said, "The Central Government has been promoting several projects in the country, such as Defence and Aerospace. The Defence Production Corridor Project is in the process of promoting six and five nods respectively in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In addition to building new defence corridors, we also want to promote areas that already have an aerospace and defence manufacturing environment."
He highlighted that Defence Technology Hub in Karnataka has several advantages and a good environment with some of the best research and development centres in the state.
"There are public sector companies like HAL, BEL, and DRDO's laboratories DARE and ADE. Major companies like Airbus, Boeing, and GE Aviation are located in the state. It has made our state a forerunner in aerospace and defence", he said.
"More than 25 percent of the country's aircraft and spacecraft industries have their presence in the state. Nearly 67 per cent of all aircraft and helicopter manufacturing for Defence services is done in Karnataka, over 65 per cent of India's aerospace-related exports are from Karnataka and more than 2000 MSMEs are capable of carrying out niche sub-contracting work from here."
He pointed out that Bengaluru is the only Indian city to feature in the top 10 global Aerospace cities of the future ranked by FDI intelligence, adding that Karnataka is the first state in the country to implement the Aerospace and Defence Policy under the leadership of chief ministers.
Shettar said hubs in Bangalore, Mysore, Tumkur, and Chamarajanagar already have the infrastructure ready for the aerospace and defence Ecosystems and Karnataka will continue to play a key role in boosting domestic production in the country's aerospace and defence manufacturing sectors in the coming days.
Industries Commissioner Gunjan Krishna spoke on the draft aerospace and defence policy 2021-2026. "The main goal is to make the state a major investment state in the aerospace and defence industry. Steps will be taken to implement defence hubs in the state", she said.
Prominent industrialists were present at the webinar, including Principal Secretary Rajkumar Khatri, Industrial secretary Ramesh, the technical director of the industrial department, and Revanna Gowda, managing director of Karnataka Udyog Mitra. (ANI)