Aeroshow stays in Bengaluru, government confirms

IANS  |  New Delhi/Bengaluru 

The government on Saturday declared that the next edition of will be held in Bengaluru from February 20 to 24 next year, putting to rest speculation about the venue and date of the trade and defence biennial event.

The 12th edition of the five-day biennial event will be held at the Yelahanka base of the (IAF) on Bengaluru's northern outskirts.

"The trade event will and products of global and Indian and defence firms, with static and flying display of military and civil aircraft, including fighters, jets, helicopters and air weapons.

The announcement comes amid speculation that the government has decided to shift the show to where a huge defence corridor linking Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, and in Bundelkhand region is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore.

too had urged to hold the event ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections in the state that sends the maximum 80 members to

It was also speculated that the government had decided to advance the show to be held later this year.

had made it clear that no announcement had been made even as "people in many places are asking for (the show to be held in their states)."

The had also received requests from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha and to host the next show. But all those apprehensions have been dispelled.

The 12th edition will host global leaders and investors in the industry, think tanks from around the world, providing an opportunity to exchange information, ideas and new developments in the industry, the ministry statement said.

"The air show will also give a fillip to the domestic aviation and further the cause of 'Make in India'. The defence production department is committed to ensure a result-oriented air show," the statement added.

The government welcomed the ministry's decision to hold the air show in Bengaluru only.

"It's a great relief that the air show is not moving out of the city, which is also the country's hub. We thank the for the right decision," a in the told IANS in Bengaluru.

The official confirmation on continuing the air show in Bengaluru came within a month after wrote to to hold it in as in the past two decades.

"I seek your intervention for conducting the 12th edition of India-2019 in Bengaluru, where the mega event was held for 11 times biennially since 1996," said Kumaraswamy in a letter to Modi on August 13.

"As the hub of defence and in the country, Bengaluru is the most suitable place to conduct Asia's premier air show, as evident from the huge response it got from the world over in the last 22 years," noted the letter.

In the 11th edition, held from February 14 to 18, 2017, 549 firms -- both global and Indian -- from 51 countries participated.

"Bengaluru has become synonymous with the air show for which the defence ministry and the had invested in upgrading infrastructure, including the air base, roads, highways and public amenities," said the letter.

for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar also said in a tweet on August 13 that Sitharaman had clarified to him that no decision was taken to shift the air show to from Bengaluru.

--IANS

bha-fb-sar/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, September 08 2018. 17:30 IST