Investments worth ₹3,123 crore by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Defence public sector units and private sector companies like TVS group, Data Patterns, Alpha Designs and Aerospace Engineers, were announced on Sunday as part of the launch of the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor.

In the 2018 Budget, two Defence corridors were announced in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

The Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor, also called the Tamil Nadu Defence Production Quad, will include Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore and Tiruchi. These nodal cities have defence ecosystem in the form of OFBs, vendors working with Defence PSUs, and other allied industries.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a series of projects in the corridor at Tiruchi in the presence of State Industry Minister MC Sampath.

Development of these corridors will not only help in accelerated growth and regional industry agglomeration, but will also facilitate a well-planned and efficient industrial base which will lead to increased defence production in the country and the region. This will also help the industry to integrate with the global supply chain of defence manufacturing, she said.

Large conglomerates like Lockheed Martin and LMW have also announced their intentions to invest in the corridors, says a government press release.

At a function in Tiruchi, the Defence Research Development Organisation handed over the model of Arjun Mark-1A to the Director-General Ordnance Factories. This tank is much superior to the earlier version in terms of fire power, mobility and protection features, the release said.

Sitharaman also launched the “CODISSIA Defence Innovation and Incubation Centre” to support the MSMEs, start-ups and existing industries in their endeavour to expand and contribute significantly for defence indigenisation and other areas.

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