Vidarbha has potential to attract investments in defence: CII

Nagpur, Aug 26 (PTI) Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region ingeneral and Nagpur, its biggest city, in particular has allthe potential to attract investments in the defence sector,according to industry captains. The business potential of Vidarbha, with special focuson the defence sector, was discussed at a buyer-seller meetorganised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) today. Nitin Deveshwar, Chairman, CII Vidarbha Zonal Counciland Managing Director, ESMS India Pvt Ltd, said the first-everbuyer–seller meet organised at Nagpur provided an opportunityfor local manufacturers to explore new avenues in the defencesector. With the region having ordinance factories, it makessense to have defence manufacturing units here, he said. Deveshwar said there was now a greater impetus onprivate sector involvement in defence production. Mukesh Bhargava, Convenor, CII Maharashtra–DefenceTask Force and Vice-President, Head, Special Projects &Engineering System at L&T, said defence is the largest andfast-growing domestic market and has a wide opportunitiesahead. India is currently the 9th largest aerospace marketin the world and going to become the third largest in thenext few years, Bhargava said. Large and growing domestic market, outsourcing ofdefence and indigenisation thrust from Government are thestrengths of defence manufacturing sector in India, he added. Executive Director & CEO, Mahindra Defence NavalSystems, Devendra Bhatnagar, spoke about various requirementsand opportunities for SMEs in the defence manufacturing. Sandeep Saigal, is Head, Defence Sales & BusinessDevelopment at Tata Motors, said defence manufacturing is nowopen to the private sector and it will create a very positiveimpact on industries. Tata Motors has collaborated with multiple platformsand application for defence manufacturing. Futuristic infantrycombat vehicle (FICV) is where MSMEs can play a key role,Saigal said. K Nandakumar, Chairman & Managing Director, ChemtrolsIndustries Ltd, emphasised on role and opportunities for MSMEsin defence sector. Rahul Dixit, Member, CII Maharashtra Defence TaskForce and Director, Midland Diesel Services, highlightedbusiness opportunities in the sector in Vidarbha and Nagpur. He said Nagpur and Vidarbha have all the potential toattract investments in the key sector. PTI JOE RSYMR