Chennai: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be in Tiruchi at the ‘Launch of Projects’ for the Defence Industrial Production Corridor on 20 January, a Defence press release said.
Coimbatore defence innovation hub along with new defence products will be inaugurated at the event, sources said.
Government of India has announced the setting up of two Defence Industrial Production Corridors in Tamilnadu and Uttar Pradesh.
The Tamilnadu Defence Industrial Corridor runs through Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem, Chennai and Tiruchi. Various rounds of industrial interactions with stakeholders have been done in early 2018.
The ‘Launch of Projects’ in Tiruchi is the second stage in the process of industrial corridors setup. Recently, the Ministry of Defence launched a defence industrial corridor in Aligarh which is one of the nodal cities in Uttar Pradesh Industrial Production Corridor.
Several companies based out of Tamilnadu, including big firms and MSMEs that either manufacture defence equipment or are ready to begin production, are set to sign multiple Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Defence Purchase Department in Tiruchi.
According to reports, Defence Ministry last year released Rs 20 crore as initial funding to the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) which will identify micro and small units as well as startups ready to manufacture components for defence equipment.