The Maharashtra government’s decision to provide 20 acres at Mihan near Nagpur city for Vidarbha Defence Hub & Industrial Cluster (VDHIC) will pave the way for training 45,000 technicians in defence manufacturing by 2023.
The cluster is based on a PPP model with the State government providing ₹46 crore as seed capital in the initial stage. Tata Technologies along with local industries in Nagpur will provide about ₹53 crore.
Director of VDHIC, Dushyant Deshpande, told BusinessLine that TATA Technologies with expertise in working with various Global OEMs such as Boeing, Airbus, Rolls Royce will set up the aerospace and defence skill centre.
The primary aim of the centre will be to create a carefully designed and integrated skill upgradation course for young technicians, which will help them join various defence manufacturing units around Nagpur. For such skilled workers, beginner level salary would be ₹25,000 plus a month, he said.
Training for safe handling
Deshpande said that the specialised courses will last anywhere from one month to 15 months. After completing the courses the manpower would be absorbed in Indmar Aviation, which is setting up MRO base in Mihan. Public sector unit Bharat Electronics is also setting a unit at Butibori (Nagpur) industrial area for making fuses for armaments, which will also require a large manpower. Training for safe handling of the sensitive armaments will also be provided at VDHIC for which simulators would be provided to the students, he said.
At the Mihan site, physical infrastructure would be created for setting up the aerospace and defence technical competency centre as well as other infrastructures such as machinery and high-end workstations. Digital infrastructure will comprise all on-site technology equipments and high-end software used by the global manufacturing firms for R&D.
Deshpande said in the initial phase the focus would be on aviation but as the cluster develops, training for the manufacture of small firearms would also be provided to the students. Talks are also underway with BrahMos Aerospace for developing some specialised tooling.