- Sunday, November 24, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (14) said that the country is no longer known as a defence importer and is fast moving towards a major exporter in the same sector.
He said this after visiting the exhibition models of the Aligarh node of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor. “India is no longer seen as a defence importer, it is moving fast on the path of becoming a major defence exporter,” Modi said.
“Today, not only the country, but the world is also seeing that from modern grenades and rifles to fighter aircraft, drones, warships are being manufactured in India itself. India is moving towards making a new identity of defence exporters,” he added.
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Modi announced the establishment of the defence industrial corridor while inaugurating the UP investors’ summit in state capital Lucknow in February 2018.
A total of 6 nodes — Aligarh, Agra, Kanpur, Chitrakoot, Jhansi and Lucknow — have been planned in the corridor. In the Aligarh node, the land allocation process has been completed and 19 firms, which will invest Rs 1,245 crore (£122 million) in the node, has been given land.
The defence corridor of Uttar Pradesh is planned to help in making the country self-reliant in the field of defense production and promoting Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision.
Modi laid the foundation of a university named after Jat hero Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh in Aligarh, a move that many saw as a ploy to please the agitated community which is a key component of the voter base of the poll-bound state. He said that he was missing the presence of former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh adding that the latter would have been very happy with the development of the university. Singh died last month at the age of 89.
The prime minister also heaped praise on the current Yogi Adityanath government in UP.
“Today, Uttar Pradesh is becoming an attractive place for every small and big investor of the country and the world. This happens when the right environment is created for development. Yogi govt is working towards development in the state,” he said in his speech adding, “Before 2017, governance in Uttar Pradesh was in hands of ‘goondas’ (goons) and ‘mafias’, but today such elements are behind bars.”
Adityanath, who will be seeking his re-election early next year, was present on the occasion along with state governor Anandiben Patel. He said: “I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for saving both lives and livelihood of the people in the country during the COVID pandemic.”
