Rs 225-cr defence industrial park to come up in district

The state government will take the defence industrial corridors project of the Union government forward by establishing a defence component manufacturing park in Coimbatore over 500 acres at a cost of Rs 225 crore, finance minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said while presenting the revised budget for the financial year 2021-22 on Friday.
The park is expected to attract Rs 3,500 crore investments. “Although the Union government announced establishment of defence industrial corridors connecting Hosur, Salem, Tiruchirapalli and Coimbatore, the support of the Union government has been limited,” the minister said.
Industry bodies in Coimbatore welcomed the announcement. President of the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (Siema) K V Karthik said defence establishments have been organising vendors meets for sourcing components. “Defence components demand highest levels of precision. It will take time for the domestic companies to accustom to such requirements. Arrival of large manufacturing companies is crucial for manufacturing high precision equipment.”
“Indian industrial giants like Tata, Reliance and L&T are active in the defence manufacturing sector. If this park becomes a reality, such companies can establish bases in the region for manufacturing defence equipment,” said president of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Balasubramanian.
The Coimbatore District Small Scale Industries Association (Codissia) has been asking the state government to bring large industries to Coimbatore after the Union government announced Tamil Nadu a part of the defence corridor project, said Codissia president M V Ramesh Babu. “Codissia Defence Innovation and Atal Incubation Centre (CDIIC) has incubated 10 startups to manufacture defence components and most of them are in Tamil Nadu. This year, we are incubating 15 more startups. One hundred and forty more medium and small industrial units have approached us and we are in the process of identifying companies capable of supplying components to defence units.”
“The announcement on defence component manufacturing park in the state budget is in line with our demand. While large industries are expected to make an investment of up to Rs 3,500 in the park to manufacture defence products, MSMEs can become vendors to these industries,” Ramesh added.