GROUND Work For Creating A Defence Corridor IN Uttar Pradesh Will Commence In March: Defence Minister

DEFENCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said officials of her ministry and Uttar Pradesh Government should initiate groundwork by next month for setting up a defence hub in the northern State. While inaugurating Investors’ Summit Prime Minister Narendra Modi mooted the idea at Lucknow on February 21. The officials will meet local people and even artisans to know the possibility of kind of Defence units that can be put up in the State as suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking in the conclave on Investors’ Summit organised by the UP Government  at Lucknow on Wednesday.“The Modi Government is promoting Defence Manufacturing Corridor in the country to minimise the nation’s Defence procurement bill from other countries. The Prime Minister has asked us to reduce import bill and it can only happen when industries in the country are capable of supplying the requirement,” she added while speaking at the summit. “Teams will go to Agra, Aligarh, Jhansi and other places to enquire about other details and demand of the sector,” she said. India is the third largest country in the world in procurement for Defence products as it purchases weapons from a host of countries. “The capacity of metal work has been ignored in the past. People ignored Moradabad, Aligarh and other places in UP which are famous for metal work. Instead, we preferred purchase of weapons from foreign countries,” Sitharaman said. Units can come around proposed Bundelkhand Expressway which will connect Agra with Chitrakoot for generation employment opportunities and ensure economic development of the region, she said. “In just 18 days all formalities were completed and both the State and the Central Government have come on one page to bring this prestigious project to Bundelkhand, the Defence Minister said. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who conceptualized the Investors’ Summit, is for district wise planning for development. A  Defence Corridor and Aerospace have vast opportunities in the State, he said. There is good transport connectivity with highways and rail in the State. An international airport is coming up in Greater Noida, close to Delhi, besides there are three airports in Lucknow, Kanpur and Allahabad. These will help the State’s economic regeneration, he said. Yogi said Defence Corridor will be linked with all districts and its reflection will be seen in the ‘One District, One Product’ (ODOP) scheme.