BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said Karnataka’s share is 65 per cent of the nation’s total supply in the defence sector due to a ‘Bandhan’ in the sector between the Department and Public Sector Undertakings.
Speaking at a function organised in connection with the signing of memorandums, ‘Bandhan’, at Aero India 2023 in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, he said, “Both defence and aerospace sectors were established fields and only experts can complete work. With the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the supervision of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the defence sector is now open to private sector participation”.
“Earlier, the country was importing around 80 per cent of the defence needs, but now, under the PM’s ‘Make in India’ concept, indigenous manufacturing is happening. The capacity of production in the country’s defence sector is more than what was thought, and the Indian companies, including MSMEs, are capable of meeting all the demands put forth by the defence sector. The manufacturing companies have the best technology to produce the requirements of the defence sector in the current situation”, the CM added.
Bommai further said that opportunities are aplenty due to the change of domain in the manufacturing sector. “The signed documents are the future requirements and we will witness an increase in capacity and capability. The state PSUs have signed 22 agreements worth over Rs 2,900 crore. The Aero India show has become the ‘talk of the town’. I would like to thank all my officials for establishing the Aerospace Park in Bengaluru and creating necessary infrastructure”, he said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with Large and Medium Scale Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani, Defence Secretary Giridhar Armane, Indian Army Chief Anil Chouhan, Air Chief Marshal V R Chowdhari and others were present at the event. (ANI)