Bhubaneswar: Mr Sanjeev Chopra, Secretary Industries, Government of Odisha made a strong pitch to the defence Industry to tap the opportunities that Odisha had to offer in the aerospace and defence sectors at the ‘Aerospace & Defence Manufacturing Session’ at the ‘Make in Odisha’ Conclave 2018 here on Tuesday. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is the industry partner for the event.
Mr Chopra briefed the industry on the comprehensive ecosystem in place and the policy measures that have been initiated, including the recently announced Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Policy aimed at creating a robust defence industrial base.
Mr Ravin Kulshrestha, Director Planning and Coordination, Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, reaffirmed Government of India’s support to the defence industry and spoke about the initiatives by the Government of India and the opportunities that are available in the defence sector. Mr Kulshrestha detailed the enabling factors for MSMEs to contribute to India’s defence production.
Maj Gen PS Bhatia VSM, Commandant Army Air Defence College, Indian Army, emphasised on collaborative approach on the part of the user, industry and academia to cater to the needs of the armed forces. He added that in the last two years industry and academia have come out with path-breaking solutions to the problem statements of Indian Army and mentioned that further strengthening the user-industry-academia interface will be a win-win situation for all.
While advocating a strong public- private partnership, Mr D K Hota, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, spelt out the initiatives taken by BEML to develop a strong defence vendor base across the country.
Lt Gen Subrata Saha PVSM, UYSM, YSM, VSM (Retd.), Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff (P&S), Indian Army, in his opening remarks appreciated the efforts of Government of Odisha in according priority to the defence & aerospace manufacturing and was confident that industry would make use of the conducive business environment in Odisha to their advantage.
Lt Gen Saha moderated a panel discussion which had participation of members from defence public Sector undertakings, large scale Indian private players and foreign OEMs. The panellists discussed the challenges and the expectations of the Indian industry in contributing to the Odisha government’s Aerospace & Defence manufacturing vision.
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