The formal launch of the Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to happen on Jan 20 in Trichy.

Briefing media persons ahead of the launch, Secretary Defence Production Ajay Kumar said that “There will be participation from services, and ministry officials industry and other stakeholders at the launch event. Tamil Nadu due to be an expert in the auto components is expected to be good in aerospace too and also its proximity to Bangalore.

“We are expecting investments in tier 1 and tier II. Also, a defence innovation hub is being set up under which maximum support of Rs 20 crore will be given by the government. At this hub they will develop and indigenise certain number of items,” Kumar added.

“The UP Defence Corridor generated Rs 360 crore of investment and we expect much more in Tamil Nadu”, the defence secretary added.

The defence corridor will be created in the state with Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore and Tiruchirapalli as major nodes. These are expected to kick start a vibrant & self-reliant defence manufacturing ecosystem, officials added.

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The state government has been working on a defence and aerospace policy to attract national and international companies to set up their base in the aerospace park in Sriperumbudur (Chennai) in an area of around 250 acres( expandable to 700 acres).

As was reported by FinancialExpress.com last year, Tamil Nadu industries minister MC Sampath had said, “Aerospace is one of the sectors identified as a growth area and Tier I, Tier II and Tier III companies will set their facilities.”

So far, several European aerospace and defence companies have started operating out of Tamil Nadu. The proposed corridor is expected to build on the existing defence ecosystem in the form of Ordnance Factory Boards, vendors working with defence Public Sector Undertakings and other allied industries, according to an official press release.

The aim behind such corridors as announced in the Union Budget of 2018-19 for UP and Tamil Nadu was to bolster interaction between all industry players in order to create long-term synergy and eventually develop the area into a defence production powerhouse.