A senior official said 451 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 1,53,000 crore were signed in Gandhinagar during the DefExpo 2022.
“This was the most outstanding defence expo ever. It saw the highest number of exhibitors, which is in addition to tens of thousands of business visitors. The extent of business this defence expo has generated has surpassed all the previous records,” Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar told news agency Press Trust of India.
At DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow, 201 agreements were finalised between “industry and industry, industry and state governments and industry and central governments,” Kumar said.
Out of 451 deals, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government has signed 13 worth Rs 564 crore, said State Cabinet Minister Nand Gopal Gupta. He added that these MoUs are with the UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), with investments to be made in the UP Defence Corridor developed by the UPEIDA.
In the 2018-19 General Budget, the government announced plans to establish two defence corridors, in UP and Tamil Nadu. This will help fill the gap in indigenous defence production and is in line with India’s Make in India and defence Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) campaign.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated, “This is the beginning of self-reliance in the Indian Defence sector. This expo has shown that the future belongs to India. This expo has also shown that India will become a global defence manufacturing hub.”
DefExpo 2022 had two firsts: it is India’s first defence expo exclusively for Indian firms and the erstwhile Ordinance Factory Board’s seven new companies were presenting. 75 countries were present, with 45 of them from Africa represented by their defence ministers.
