The government has set up two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) in order to attract a total investment worth Rs 20,000 crore by the year 2024-25 for defence industries, develop the domestic supply chain and strengthen the defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
In the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC), there are six nodes namely, Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Lucknow. In the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC), there are five nodes namely, Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchirappalli, Minister of State for defence Ajay Bhatt said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is the nodal agency for the UPDIC and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is the nodal agency for TNDIC. Both states have promulgated their respective Aerospace and Defence Policies to attract investments in DICs.
As per available information, 108 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been signed with industries/organisations in the UPDIC with a potential investment of Rs 12,191 crore. An investment of Rs 2,445 crore has been made and 1611 Hectares of land have been acquired so far for the development of the UPDIC.
In Tamil Nadu, arrangements have been made through MoUs etc with 53 industries for a potential investment of Rs 11,794 crores. An investment worth Rs 3,894 crore has been made and 910 Hectares of land have been acquired so far for the development of the TNDIC.
The DICs have been established to develop a holistic defence manufacturing ecosystem which is a progressive and ongoing process.