The Government intends to build up the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor as an alternative to Bengaluru as a premier manufacturing hub for the Defence and Aerospace sector.

Ambitious plans for this Corridor include manufacture of fighter aircraft, helicopters, small fixed wing aircraft, UAVs and missiles. The target is to achieve 30 percent share of the Defence sector in India, and sector specific plans are being worked upon towards this end.

"We'll have mostly Tier 1 and Tier 2 investments in this Corridor," Secretary Defence Production Ajay Kumar disclosed, while responding to a specific query by SP's Aviation.

"The Government both at the Centre and the state seek to leverage the strengths of Tamil Nadu as an automotive and precision machining hub. "The state plans to move from being an automotive hub to an aerospace industry stronghold," an official document elaborates on Defence and Aerospace manifesto for Tamil Nadu"

The Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor will be inaugurated by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on January 20, 2019 at Trichy, one of the nodal points in this Corridor. The other four nodal points around which clusters will be built are Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem and Hosur. These nodes will sit on the Tamil Nadu Defence Quad.

The plans include building up of cluster capabilities at nodal points in the Corridor. These clusters will be focussed along the following capabilities:

• Coimbatore: Manufacture of Fighter Aircraft, Missiles, and creation of Defence MRO facilities
• Salem: Manufacture of Helicopters, Small Fixed Wing Aircraft, Parachute and Paramilitary Equipment and creation of UAV service and repair facilities
• Chennai: UAV Design and Manufacture and creation of an MRO Hub
• Tuticorin Nanguneri: Manufacture of Missile and Rocket Sub-systems and setting up of Testing and Systems Assembly
• Trichy: Large Fabrication and Casting

At the inauguration of this Corridor, there will be announcements of new investments by PSUs and the private sector, launch of new defence manufacturing projects, and also a Defence Innovation Hub at Coimbatore. "The (quantum of) investments (in the Tamil Nadu Corridor) will be far more than the figure of (over) 3,650 crore announced for the UP Corridor in August 2018," Dr Ajay Kumar said.

"Key targets set for 2030 include mobilisation of over 1,000 companies in Defence and Aerospace, creation of direct employment for 100,000 persons and indirect employment for 1,000,000, and creation of manufacturing infrastructure over 10,000 acres"

The Government both at the Centre and the state seek to leverage the strengths of Tamil Nadu as an automotive and precision machining hub. "The state plans to move from being an automotive hub to an aerospace industry stronghold," an official document elaborates on Defence and Aerospace manifesto for Tamil Nadu.

Key targets set for 2030 include mobilisation of over 1,000 companies in Defence and Aerospace, creation of direct employment for 100,000 persons and indirect employment for 1,000,000, and creation of manufacturing infrastructure over 10,000 acres.

At the moment, 120 companies in the Defence and Aerospace sector in Tamil Nadu generate annual revenues between 15-20,000 crore. "The existing market in Tamil Nadu is also an incentive for new investments in this Corridor," Dr Ajay Kumar said. The companies include Tata Boeing, Tata Lockheed Martin, L&T, Godrej and LMW.

The agenda for the UP Defence Industrial Complex appears far more modest in comparison despite some big ticket announcements. HAL has committed 1,200 crore, OFB 1,077 crore, MKU 900 crore, BEL 240 crore, Bharat Forge 200 crore and PTC 115 crore. Total investments announced so far aggregate to 3,732 crore. Boeing India has also announced setting up of a skill centre in partnership with HAL.