New Delhi. An investment of approximately Rs 3,700 crore was announced by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and private industries for Uttar Pradesh Defence Corridor and another investment of approximately Rs 3,100 crore was announced by them for Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor, Minister of State (MoS) for Defence Shripad Yesso Naik informed Lok Sabha on March 11.

This information was given in a written reply to Prof Dr Kirit Premjibhai Solanki and others.

Further, the government has also appointed a consultant for the preparation of policy and Detailed Project Report (DPR) for these two defence corridors. Incentives to private players and foreign companies are provided under the respective state policies.

In pursuance to the budget announcement (2018-19), it has been decided to set up two defence industrial corridors in the country, one in Uttar Pradesh and another in Tamil Nadu. Subsequently, six nodes in Uttar Pradesh defence corridor viz. Agra, Aligarh, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow have been identified.

Similarly, for Tamil Nadu defence corridor, five nodes viz. Chennai, Coimbatore, Hosur, Salem and Tiruchirappalli have been identified. Till date, six consultation meeting of stakeholders each in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were organized across its various nodes.

Setting up of defence industrial corridors would catalyse indigenous production of defence and aerospace related items thereby reducing our reliance on imports and promoting export of these items to other countries. This will lead to achieve India’s goal of self-reliance in defence, generation of direct/indirect employment opportunities and growth of private domestic manufacturers, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and startups.

Presently, there is no proposal to set up more defence industrial corridor(s) in the country.