Maharashtra to revise Aerospace and Defence policy, four defence clusters soon including one in Pune

Addressing the gathering at the inauguration, Fadnavis said, “When I was the Chief Minister in 2017, that time Prime Minister Modi had put forward the policy of Atmanirbhar Bharat in Defence. We had foreseen that there would be lot of opportunities for Maharashtra. So in 2017, Maharashtra became the first state to have an Aerospace and Defence policy. We brought in angel investors and created a fund. I am happy to share here that building on that, Maharashtra now has 600 defence MSMEs who have created a value and assets worth Rs 12,000 to 15,000 crores. These MSMEs have played a key role in Atmanirbhar Bharat ecosystem.”

Fadnavis added, “Since then a lot of things have changed. There is more ease of doing business. Defence industries across the world are now keen on working with Indian entities. So we have taken a decision to revise this policy. So we will sit together with the industry and come up with a revised Aerospace and Defence manufacturing policy for Maharashtra. Special focus of the renewed policy will be on how we take ahead the success achieved by MSMEs.”

Speaking on the occasion, Samant said, “As the Minister of Industries for Maharashtra, I have a very good news for all those working in Defence MSME sector. The government of Maharashtra will soon take a decision on creation of four defence clusters at Nagpur, Shirdi, Pune and Ratnagiri. Over the last few days, I have seen the impact of the defence sector MSMEs in Maharashtra. The Department of Industries of Maharashtra is firm on making Maharashtra a hub of defence manufacturing.”

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Saturday visited the expo and interacted with the participating industries to make them aware of future requirements of IAF towards achieving self-reliance in line with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat goal of the government of India. IAF, during the expo demonstrated its various indigenous capabilities. IAF also set up publicity stall at the venue to attract the youth to join Indian Air Force. Induction Publicity and Exhibition Vehicle (IPEV) was placed at the site to showcase near real life depiction of the range of function and activities undertaken by IAF.

The Indian Army and Indian Navy have also set up their stalls and displays at the expo. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has showcased its systems including Mounted Gun System, Mobile Shelter from Nuclear, Biological and Chemical incidents and Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher system. The expo also has a small arms display.