K’taka seeks major defence push, pitches to set up defence technology hubs

National

Karnataka Minister Jagdish Shettar said on Thursday that the state was planning to set up defence technology hubs across Karnataka to leverage the presence of major defence research labs and aerospace firms and industries.

He said during a webinar that they had written a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to permit them to set up defence technology hubs in the state, as they already had defence research labs of DRDO and aerospace firms like HAL in Bengaluru.

He wrote in a tweet that he attended Aerospace & Defence round table webinar at Bengaluru and discussed some significant aspects for the development of aerospace and defence products.

Jagdish Shettar also wrote a letter to defence Minister Rajnath Singh stating that Karnataka was best suited for setting up defence technology hubs given its R&D, IT and technical innovation culture, presence of leading DPSUs such as HAL, BEL and laboratories such as DARE and ADE of DRDO.

As India is on the cusp to reform it’s defence sector, this could prove to be a significant development in the same direction as it would boost aerospace and defence manufacturing ecosystem.

Government on India has set up two defence industrial corridors that are being promoted by the central government itself. These defence industrial corridors are in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The one in Uttar Pradesh is with six nodes and the one in Tamil Nadu is with five nodes.

Additionally, the FDI intelligence ranked Bengaluru, the only Indian city in top 10 global aerospace cities of the future.

Attended Aerospace & Defence round table webinar at Bengaluru and discussed some significant aspects for the development of aerospace and defence products. pic.twitter.com/41Xv131KUE

— Jagadish Shettar (@JagadishShettar) June 17, 2021