JOIN USIn order to turn Bengaluru into a top manufacturing hub for aerospace and defence components and products, the State government has requested the Centre to establish an exclusive ‘Defence and Aerospace Cluster’ near Tumakuru, in line with the Make in India theme.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Second Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Summit 2015 here on Wednesday, Gaurav Gupta, Commissioner, Industries and Commerce, Karnataka, said: “The land required for the cluster can be accommodated in the National Investments and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) near Tumakuru where 4,000 acres of land is ready for allotment and another 8,000 acres at an advanced stage of acquisition. Smaller land parcels of about 100-200 acres can be made available in the Aerospace Park adjacent to BIAL.”
Tumakuru is one of the four regions in the State and 16 in the country marked as NIMZ in 2014 as part of the Centre’s plan to boost manufacturing.
Besides manufacturing components, systems and sub-systems, the cluster will also export finished products and provide a range of auxiliary units across avionics, forging and other sectors, he added.
Gupta also highlighted the interest shown by many companies to invest in the State and Bengaluru, following the success of Aero India 2015. “Many companies participated in the G2B (government to businesses) and have expressed their interest to invest around Rs 12,000 crore... These proposals are, however, yet to materialise and a lot of incubation is still needed.”
Besides, 80 MSEs and SMEs have shown interest to invest Rs 15,000 crore in Bengaluru, he added. An Aerospace Technology Innovation Centre to provide R&D support to the SME sector is also set to come up at the Aerospace Park. The State has requested the Centre to set up an Aerospace Common Finishing Facility at Rs 96 crore, of which 50 per cent will be as Central grants. Despite the efforts to boost aerospace manufacturing, many hurdles remain.
A member of Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries pointed out the difficulty of an MSE or SME to invest heavily on land.
Speaking on the bigger subject of indigenisation of aerospace production, Dr Tamilmani, DG (Aero) cited the absence of even wind tunnels for intensive aerospace research hindering research on UAVs, (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft), etc.
Speaking on the sidelines of the programme, V Uday Bhaskar, director, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), said the Akash Mk2 missile would be developed within three years.