Tiruchy: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fulfilling the dreams of former Chief Ministers: M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa in taking the State on a growth trajectory, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday.
“Minister (Vellamandi) Natarajan said that Puratchi Thalaivar MGR and Amma’s dreams of developing Tiruchy must be fulfilled. I would like to say something about that. From MGR’s period and Amma’s period, after asking around a lot to the Central Governments, now it is only Modi who is fulfilling those dreams today,” she said while addressing the gathering at the inaugural of projects for TN Defence Industrial Corridor.
She said the Modi government acknowledges the fact that the people of Tamil Nadu are enterprising businessmen. She also emphasised that the Defence Expo, which was never taken out of New Delhi except once in Goa, was brought to Tamil Nadu by Mr. Modi. Despite being in power for only five years now, the BJP government has brought defence corridor to the State with the co-operation of the TN government, she said.
The Defence Industrial Corridor in Tiruchy is the second (the other being Uttar Pradesh) in the country and was announced in the 2018 Union budget. The Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor, also called the Tamil Nadu Defence Production Quad, will include Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore and Tiruchi. These nodal cities have defence ecosystem in the form of OFBs, vendors working with Defence PSUs, and other allied industries.
Investments worth Rs 3,123 cr announced:
Investments worth about Rs.3,123 crore by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Defence public sector units and private sector companies like TVS group, Data Patterns, Alpha Designs and Aerospace Engineers, were announced as part of the launch of the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a series of projects in the corridor at Tiruchy in the presence of State Industry Minister M. C. Sampath. Development of this corridor will not only help in accelerated growth and regional industry agglomeration, but will also facilitate a well-planned and efficient industrial base which will lead to increased defence production in the country and the region. This will also help the industry to integrate with the global supply chain of defence manufacturing, she said.
Large conglomerates like Lockheed Martin and LMW have also announced their intentions to invest in the corridors, says a government press release.
At a function in Tiruchy, the Defence Research Development Organisation handed over the model of Arjun Mark-1A to the Director-General Ordnance Factories. This tank is much superior to the earlier version in terms of fire power, mobility and protection features, the release said. Sitharaman also launched the “CODISSIA Defence Innovation and Incubation Centre” to support the MSMEs, start-ups and existing industries in their endeavour to expand and contribute significantly for defence indigenisation and other areas.
