New Delhi. 17 March 2018. With the vision of pushing Make in India, the Ministry of Defence  in the 2018 budget, two Defence Corridors were announced in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Subsequent to the announcement, the process has begun to set up these corridors.

The Union Minister for Defence, Nirmala Sitharaman interacting with the local defence and allied industrialists
The Union Minister for Defence, Nirmala Sitharaman interacting with the local defence and allied industrialists, MSMEs and other stakeholders to create synergy and further strengthen the defence ecosystem in Tiruchirappalli, which is one of the nodal cities of Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor.

As one of the first steps to initiate development of the Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor, an interactive meeting with local industry was held at Tiruchirappalli.  The meeting, which was attended by over 200 representatives from the industry, was addressed by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Several ministers and senior officials of Tamil Nadu Government and senior officials from Ministry of Defence, Defence Public Sector Undertakings, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Ordnance Factory Board were also present in the meeting.

In her inaugural address, the the Minister gave a brief overview of the importance of the defence sector in the overall growth and development of the country and highlighted the importance of the proposed Defence Corridor in this respect. She sought the active support of all the stakeholders to make the project successful.  Sitharaman also invited the local manufacturers to showcase their products related to defence supplies so as to attract the attention of more than 300 manufacturers expected to be present in the DefExpo 2018, scheduled between 11 to 14 April 2018 in Chennai.

The Union Minister for Defence, Nirmala Sitharaman addressing the meeting of the local defence and allied industrialists
The Union Minister for Defence, Nirmala Sitharaman addressing the meeting of the local defence and allied industrialists, MSMEs and other stakeholders to create synergy and further strengthen the defence ecosystem in Tiruchirappalli.

Several presentations ranging from measures taken to promote indigenisation and self-reliance in defence production, the industry friendly measures taken by the Tamil Nadu government, the envisaged role of the Public Sector Enterprises in the proposed Defence Corridor and the capabilities and expectations of the local industry were made. The presentations were followed by a very vibrant question answer session.

The Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor, also called the Tamil Nadu Defence Production Quad as the nodal cities form a quadrilateral, will include Chennai, Hosur, Salem and Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli as nodes. These nodal cities have existing defence ecosystem in the form of OFBs, vendors working with Defence PSUs, and other allied industries. The Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor aims to bolster interaction between all industry players in order to create long-term synergy and eventual development of the area into a Defence Production powerhouse.