Yogi lobbies for hosting Aero India

Lobbying hard to host Aero India, the country’s biennial air show and aviation exhibition, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that his government would provide all possible help to organise the event. 

Yogi said that it would be beneficial from the point of view of defence production. He was speaking at an event in Aligarh where an announcement of a defence industrial corridor encompassing Aligarh, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi and Chitrakoot was made. 

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, her deputy in the ministry, Subhash Bhamre, UP Industries Minister Satish Mahana and senior officials of Defence Ministry and UP government were present at the event.

“I request the Defence Minister to hold the Aero India show in UP. We will provide every type of facility. In this context, I request her to announce this at the earliest so that we can proceed with the preparations,” Yogi said.

Bengaluru has been the host city for the event since its inception in 1996. The last Aero India show was held in February, 2018. 

Reports claimed that the event might take place in UP’s capital Lucknow in November-December this year. 

The Defence Minister, however, made no announcement in this regard.

The biennial air show which Bengaluru has been hosting since 1996 has grown over the years and it is now considered as one of the most prestigious events of its kind in Asia. 

A number of foreign and domestic defence sector firms display products, including fighter jets and helicopters, at the event at Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru.

Even as the Centre was mulling the shifting of the prestigious aerospace exhibition from Bengaluru to Lucknow, Chief Minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy recently maintained that Aero India, 2019 would be held in Bengaluru.