CHIEF MINISTER Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that while country-made pistols used to be flashed in Uttar Pradesh before 2017, the state now has a defence corridor helping India become “self-reliant in defence manufacturing.” Adityanath was speaking during the inaugural function of the Ammunition Manufacturing Complex of Adani Group in the Defence Corridor at Sadh in Kanpur. He pointed out that all six nodes of the defence corridor are actively contributing to India's self-reliance in defence manufacturing. Describing the occasion as “joyful”, Adityanath said: “When we organised our first Investors Summit in 2018, Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi announced two defence manufacturing corridors in the country. With the objective of fostering self-reliance in the defence sector, these corridors were announced in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.” Highlighting the Prime Minister's announcement of six nodes in Uttar Pradesh - Aligarh, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi, and Chitrakoot – the CM noted the commencement of operations by Adani Defence Systems and Technologies Ltd in the Kanpur node, said a press release issued by the state government on Monday. UP Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana, Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande, Cabinet Minister Nand Gopal Nandi, Rakesh Sachan, Lt. NS Raja Subramani, IIDC Manoj Kumar Singh, Adani Group's Karan Adani, Jeet Adani, Ashish Rajvanshi, public representatives and officials and employees of Ammunition Manufacturing Complex were present. The release added that the Chief Minister outlined the involvement of various companies in different nodes, saying, “In this endeavour, BrahMos Ltd has started work in Lucknow, while Armoured Vehicle Nigam Limited, Tata Technologies Ltd, Global Engineering Limited, and WV Electronics India Ltd have initiated their activities in Jhansi. Ancor Research Lab LLP is contributing in the Aligarh node, and major entities such as Adani Defence Systems & Technologies Ltd are actively involved in Kanpur." The CM said, “IIT Kanpur and IIT BHU have been designated as Centres of Excellence for the Defence Manufacturing Corridor in UP. For this, the Union defence ministry has also shown partnership to develop infrastructure.” He emphasised that investments thrive in environments where both individuals and capital are secure. CM Yogi said that after 46 years of the establishment of Noida, the state government is going to establish a new industrial city in the form of BIDA in Bundelkhand. This will become the best industrial city in the country. Accordingly, the youth of this entire region will be prepared as the most skilled workforce, said the release. Earlier, the CM inspected the Ammunition Manufacturing Complex. Speaking on the occasion, Karan Adani, Chief Executive Officer of Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, highlighted that the newly inaugurated production complex of the Adani Group, on over 5,000 acres and constructed within 15 months, stands as the largest ammunition manufacturing complex in South Asia, according to the release. “It has the capacity to produce 150 million rounds of ammunition per year. Bullets for rifles, light machine guns (LMG), AK-47 and carbines will be made here. After this, in the next phase, different types of weapons and facilities-related products will be manufactured for the army personnel, including artillery guns, ammunition, cannons and hand grenades,” added the release. “This project, which started with Rs 1,500 crore, will expand to Rs 3,000 crore in five years. While this will provide direct employment to 4,000 people, the complex will also generate five times' more indirect employment,” the release added. —WITH PTI INPUTS
