Two defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have together signed 111 memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with industries representing investments worth ₹21,904 crore, the Defence Ministry said in Parliament on Friday. Of that, investments totalling to ₹4,943 crore have already been made in the two defence corridors.

“Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), the nodal agency for Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC), has signed 69 agreements with industry with potential investment of ₹10,545 crore. Actual investment of ₹1,767 crore has been made by the industries in UPDIC,” Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said in a written reply to a query raised by Shanmuga Sundaram K and other MPs in Lok Sabha.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Authority (TIDCO), the nodal agency for Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC), has arranged investment worth ₹11,359 crore through MoUs with 42 industries. Actual investment ₹3,176 crore that has been made by the industries in TNDIC, he pointed out.

State governments have their own aerospace and defence policy to offer support to investors through various incentives, and companies have the autonomy to engage manpower as per their functional requirement, the minister said.

The government has set a target of attracting investment of about ₹10,000 crore in each corridor. UP Defence Industrial Corridor would spread around six nodes -- Aligarh, Agra, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow – have been identified. While five nodes -- Chennai, Coimbatore, Hosur, Salem and Tiruchirappalli – have been identified for TN Defence Industrial Corridor.

According to the Defence ministry, the nodes were selected on the basis of high potential for creation of end-to-end ecosystem for aerospace and defence sector development covering design, engineering and manufacturing.

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