Article Posted on : - Sep 10, 2019

A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): The next edition of India's mega defence exhibition, the DefExpo, to be held in Lucknow in February, will be better than the previous chapters of biennial event, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.

The defence minister held a high-level meeting to review preparations for the 11th edition of the DefExpo.

The meeting was attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and several top officials of the Defence Ministry.

Officials said the exhibition will highlight emergence of Uttar Pradesh as an attractive destination for investment in the defence sector.

In his remarks, Adityanath said a land bank of 3,000 acres is available for companies desirous of investing in Uttar Pradesh.

It will be for the first time Lucknow will host the exhibition in which delegates of a number of leading countries will participate. It will be held from February 5-8.

"The next edition of DefExpo will be different from earlier editions. It will be better, it will be a shining example for such events in future," Singh said in his opening remarks at the meeting.

He said the DefExpo would give a major boost to investments for the defence corridor in Uttar Pradesh. He recalled that during his recent visit to South Korea, several Korean companies had expressed interest in investing in the state.

Nearly 300 acres land has already been identified by the UP government for the event.

The theme of the DefExpo will be 'India: the emerging defence manufacturing hub' and it will be focused on 'digital transformation of defence'.

Major global and domestic military firms will showcase their latest weaponry and platforms at the exhibition, eyeing a slice of the lucrative military market in the country which is the world's biggest arms importer.

The previous edition of DefExpo took place in Thiruvidanthai near Chennai in April 2018.

Uttar Pradesh has a strong defence industrial infrastructure. It has four units of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd at Lucknow, Kanpur, Korwa and Naini (Prayagraj), nine ordnance factory units and one production facility of defence public sector undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited at Ghaziabad.

One of the two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) of India is also planned in Uttar Pradesh. The other DIC is proposed in Tamil Nadu.