After a long wait, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Thursday that the much-awaited Defence Expo 2018 (Defexpo) will be held in the Tiruporur taluk in Kancheepuram district, the outskirts of Chennai, between April 11 and 14. This would be the first time the event would be held in Tamil Nadu.
Speaking at the two-day Defence Industry Development Meet to boost ‘Make in India’ campaign, which she inaugurated here, Ms. Sitharaman, referring to media reports that the Ministry had not given date for the Defence Expo yet, said that the Tamil Nadu government had granted permission for the expo to be held along the East Coast Road, near Chennai.
It may be recalled that the defence expo is usually held in February and speculation was rife since the Ministry had not announced the date for the event, even though it is January already.
The Ministry has also set up a Defence Investors Cell and released ‘Make – II’ procedure in its attempt to ease the defence procurement guidelines in place and to boost private participation.
‘Make – II’ also encourages industry to come up with suggestions on products it can offer, while it was a need-based procurement earlier, Ms. Sitharaman said and added that a commercial Request For Proposal (RFP) would be issued soon if the firm satisfied the requirements.
Missile test
Updating on the status of the missile test scheduled on Thursday, Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production, said that the Agni V missile was successfully tested early on Thursday.
During the two-day Defence Industry Development Meet, senior officials from the Defence Production and Acquisitions units of the Ministry would camp in Chennai to forge new partnerships with private industry with the aim to achieve self-reliance in defence production.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Industries Minister M.C. Sampath, Electricity Minister P. Thangamani, Rural Industries Minister P. Benjamin were present.
Chairman of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) S. Christopher; Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Sarath Chand; Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal B.S. Deo; Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P and other senior officials were present at the function.
Chairman of Chennai-headquartered MRF Ltd K.M. Mammen handed over the indigenously developed MRF Aeromuscle Tyre for Air Force’s Sukhoi aircraft.
