A retired Indian army officer, who is now with the BJP, Capt. Ganesh Karnik, is strongly against the mega biennial Aero India show being moved out of Bengaluru. “The Aero India show should not be used as a political tool by any party,” he stresses.
Having participated in the maiden Aero India show in 1996 as moderator of an international aerospace conference held as part of it , he admits it upsets him to hear about moves to shift the event from Bengaluru as it was the conference, which laid a strong foundation for the city to grow into an aerospace hub of the country.
Also, the new venue under discussion in Lucknow cannot hold a show of this magnitude, in his view. "Yelahanka has gained expertise in organising this show ever since Aero India show was officially launched in 1996. Also, Bengaluru is an aerospace hub apart from being country's Silicon Valley and start-up hub. The show cannot be shifted from here for mere political reasons," he says emphatically, warning that moving of the show for any reason, including political, will be detrimental to Bengaluru's aerospace industry.
The fact that the city has three airports at Jakkur, HAL and BIAL, also makes it ideal for the event and convenient for the delegates attending it, according to him. "Bengaluru is home to several defence units like the National Aerospace Laboratories, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, ISRO, DRDO, BEL and BHEL to name a few. So it has the infrastructure and expertise to organise this event much better than any other city in the country," he contends, observing that the city has good weather too , which cannot be said about Lucknow.
