Gujarat government appoints Air Marshal RK Dhir as ‘advisor’

The BJP government in Gujarat issued a press release stating that the Air Marshal Dhir will take over as an advisor on October 1, saying "We lack the necessary local expertise in the defence and sector and so we have made the appointment."

gujarat govt advisor, former air marshal appointed gujarat advisor, RK Dhir appointed advisor, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, Indian Express

Air Marshal R K Dhir (left) (File)

Air Marshal RK Dhir who retired as the head of South Western Air Command (SWAC) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday was immediately appointed by Gujarat government as an “advisor” to the state for “Defence and
Aerospace Industries.” Air Marshal Dhir has been the longest-serving chief of SWAC.

In a first-of-its-kind appointment, the BJP government in Gujarat on Saturday issued a press release stating that the Air Marshal Dhir will take over as an advisor on October 1. “We lack the necessary local expertise in the defence and sector and so we have made the appointment. He will be working alongside the Industries and Mines department and will be briefing both Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and me about the developments in this sector,” JN Singh, Gujarat Chief Secretary said when quizzed about the appointment of the IAF officer.

This is perhaps for the first time that a senior IAF officer has been appointed as advisor to the Gujarat government. Gujarat has already declared an aerospace and defence policy in 2016 and is hard selling Dholera Investment Region (SIR) as a hub for defence and aerospace industries. Way back in May 2014, the Modi government had granted about 22 industrial licences to Gujarat to set up defence manufacturing units. Among those granted licence include Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company Ltd (currently Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd), AMW Motors, Vadodara-based Swallow Systems Pvt Ltd, Modest Infrastructure Ltd, Fedders Lloyd Corporation Ltd, among others.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Air Marshal Dhir, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of SWAC addressed a one-day Commander’s Conclave organised at SWAC headquarters in the state capital, Gandhinagar where commanders of all units located in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra attended the conclave.

Later Air Marshal Dhir handed over the command of SWAC at a formal function. An alumnus of National Defence Academy, the Air Marshal took over as SWAC chief in June 2015. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of
IAF in June 1979, and has flown over 3200 hours on more than 25 types of aircraft in his career spanning over 38 years.

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South Western Air Command