Defence industrial parks to come up at Varapatti, Sulur

COIMBATORE: Two industrial parks for aerospace and defence sectors, and a common manufacturing facility will be set up in the district, special secretary and project director of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) B Krishnamoorthy said on Thursday.

The proposed parks will come up at Varapatti and Sulur, the official said while addressing industrialists and participants from colleges at a seminar titled ‘Accelerating Defence and Aerospace Industry in TN Defence Corridor’, coordinated by Kumaraguru Centre for Industrial Research and Innovation (KCIRI).

“As much as 400 acres are required for the Varapatti park and 200 acres for the Sulur park. Land acquisition is in progress. The common manufacturing facility will come up at an outlay of 400 crore,” he said.

The Union government has set a target of 1.25 lakh crore-worth of domestic manufacturing in the next three years, Krishnamoorthy said. “There is a huge opportunity for domestic industries in manufacturing arms and ammunitions for the Indian defence sector as the Union government has banned import of around 400 arms and ammunitions to promote domestic production.”

There is a compelling need for India to be self-reliant in its capabilities and meet the requirements of the forces, chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu Industrial Corporation Limited (TIIC) Hans Raj Verma said. “Collectively, the government, industry and academia should contribute to enhance the capabilities of the country in defence manufacturing. We want MSMEs to be relevant, contemporary and competitive, for which technology is imperative, which all the MSMEs must negotiate and master. The government of Tamil Nadu is there to support and guide,” he said.

The seminar aims to sensitize industries in the region about the immense business opportunities available with defence establishments and large private industries in the defence and aerospace sector, and to make Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC), a hub for defence manufacturing, said chairman of Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers’s TN state chapter Rajesh R. “Coimbatore is the third destination in the state for such a seminar after Hosur and Salem.”

The seminar was organised by the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), TIIC and TIDCO.