Brahmos, Akash missiles tested on Pakistan, trusted by the world: Adityanath

Ghaziabad, Jun 26 (PTI) Brahmos and Akash missiles were tested on Pakistan during Operation Sindoor and have now become trusted for the world, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Thursday.

After laying the foundation stone of a CEL-ESDS green data centre with 30 MW capacity entailing investment of about Rs 1,000 crore, Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh has received investment proposal of Rs 50 lakh crore in the past eight years, including more than Rs 25,000 crore for defence units.

He said Centre Electronics Ltd (CEL) supplies various components for Brahmos missiles that are being produced in Lucknow node of Defence Industrial corridor.

"Recently, during Operation Sindoor we successfully tested Akash Missile and Brahmos missiles. I feel we can say for both these missiles that they are tested on Pakistan and become trusted for the world," Adityanath said.

He said CEL supplies components and systems for radome for missiles, radar system, speed control, etc.

The event coincided with Golden Jubilee Celebration of CEL. Adityanath was joined by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Jitendra Singh, state IT minister Sunil Kumar Sharma and state Social Welfare Minister Asim Arun and in laying foundation stone of the data centre on the premises of CEL.

An official at an event said the setting up of the data centre will entail cumulative investment of about Rs 1,000 crore that will be made by the Centre of Electronics and IPO-bound ESDS.

Adityanath said there was a time when there was uncertainty over the future of CEL but now this mini-Ratna is ready to realise the dream of Viksit Bharat (developed India).

Adityanath said CEL is setting up the first-of-its-kind data centre in India, reflecting on their potential.

UP CM recalled apprehension among investors when he approached them to set up a data centre in the state before the Covid period.

He said UP's first data centre was inaugurated in 2022 and there are now six of them in the state.

Talking about the revival of CEL, Singh said dedicated leadership at CEL saved it from going for disinvestment.

"This institution has a history. Solar cell was made here in 1977 when no one in the country could understand its potential. In 1977, the only news was Janata Party government has come to power and the Indira Gandhi government has been ousted. There was no awareness about solar cells at that time," the UP CM said.

Singh said there is a need to engage with the private sector to realise the dream of Viksit Bharat (developed India).

"Today we are seeing the way CEL has partnered with private sector to set up data centres," he said.

The data centre is designed to be a tier-3 grade uptime compliant at Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh and is designed for 200 high-density racks per floor, 30 MW capacity, and 40 Gbps connectivity.

Server maker HPE defines tier-3 data centre as units that are designed for an uptime of 99.982 per cent, which translates to roughly 1.6 hours of downtime per year. Tier-3 data centres can be updated without taking systems offline.