With an aim to give impetus to the defence sector, India’s “biggest ever” defence exhibition – DefExpo 2022 will begin in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on Tuesday.

This is the 12th edition of the event that has been organised on the theme ‘Path to Pride’. According to the Ministry of Defence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will grace the inaugural ceremony on October 19.

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Addressing the curtain raiser press conference in Gandhinagar on Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, that the DefExpo 2022 will showcase the growing prowess of the domestic defence industry, calling it one of the major drivers of the nation’s resolve to achieve ‘Make in India, Make for the World’.

“The biennial exhibition has been organised to support, showcase and forge partnerships for the Indian aerospace and defence manufacturing sectors with Indian as well as global customers to achieve the overall objective of catering to domestic requirements while fulfilling the needs of friendly foreign countries,” Singh said.

The Defence Minister termed DefExpo 2022, exclusively for Indian companies, as a humble tribute of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ to Mahatma Gandhi who he called the “pillar of the Swadeshi movement”.

“DefExpo 2022 during ‘Amrit Kaal’ reflects India’s resolve to be among the leading nations in the defence & aerospace sectors in the next 25 years. Under the dynamic leadership of our PM Modi, the defence sector has made giant strides on the ‘Path to Pride’ with passion and dedication to achieve the goal of ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence. We are moving towards becoming pioneers in design, development and manufacturing at a global level. We are witnessing a transformational journey from being the largest defence importer to a net exporter. This DefExpo will further accelerate the pace of this journey,” he said.

The Defence Minister described ‘Path to Pride’ as not just a theme of DefExpo 2022, but a ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ vision of a ‘New India’.
DefExpo 2022 will be the first-ever edition exclusively for Indian companies. Indian companies, Indian subsidiaries of Foreign OEMs, Division of a company registered in India, and Exhibitor having a Joint Venture with an Indian company will be considered as Indian participants. The DefExpo 2022 will also mark the celebration of one year of the formation of the seven new defence companies, carved out of the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board.

All these companies will participate in DefExpo for the first time. 451 partnerships in terms of MoUs, Transfer of Technology agreements and product launches, almost double than the last edition, are expected during the Bandhan ceremony on October 20.

The India Pavilion – a marque pavilion of the Department of Defence Production – will showcase the maturity of indigenous defence products, start-ups and the latest technology, including Artificial Intelligence in defence, while presenting India’s vision for 2047. In addition, there will be an exclusive Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) Pavilion to showcase the prowess of the country’s start-ups carrying out R&D and innovation in futuristic technologies.

For the first time, States/Union Territories (UTs) have been invited to set up pavilions at the event. The Defence Minister emphasised that with this new initiative, States/UTs will get an opportunity to participate in nation-building by attracting investment and bolstering their potential for indigenous aerospace & defence manufacturing.