Virendra Singh Rawat / Lucknow
In a boost to the prospects of India’s self-reliance in military hardware production, the diversified Adani Group will develop South Asia’s largest integrated ammunition manufacturing facility in Uttar Pradesh.
The ambitious Rs 1,500 crore project spread over 250 acres will be developed as part of the UP Defence Industrial Corridor.
To formalise the contract, Adani Defence & Aerospace has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Corridor’s nodal agency UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA).
“Aligning with the vision to achieve defence hardware self-reliance, the project is going to prove as a landmark in the history of indigenous defence manufacturing,” UPEIDA CEO and UP additional chief secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi said.
The project is expected to be a key facilitator in India’s goal of achieving $5 billion exports in defence manufacturing. The ammunition complex will comprise state-of-art technology across small and medium caliber ammunition, and short-range air defence missiles.
About 1,500 people are estimated to be hired for the proposed manufacture of high-quality ammunition for both domestic and export markets.
UP Defence Manufacturing Corridor spans six nodes viz. Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Aligarh, Chitrakoot and Agra. At the Defence Expo 2020, the state government had signed MoUs worth Rs 50,000 crore for investment in the Corridor.
In his address at the UP Investors’ Summit’s 3rd groundbreaking ceremony here on Friday, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani had highlighted the importance of self-reliance in high quality ammunition. He stressed the project was Adani Defence’s endeavour towards equipping the armed forces with state-of-art battlefield equipment.
According to Adani Defence, the project will bolster the vision of the country’s defence manufacturing self-reliance, with several such initiatives in the past, including India’s first unmanned aerial vehicles as well as India’s first private sector small arms manufacturing facilities.
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“The recent geopolitical events have reinforced that self-reliance in defence and security has to be accelerated. Unmanned platforms, short range missiles and ammunitions, cyber defence coupled with AI/ML driven analytics will become the decisive factors in the future wars and conflicts,” Adani Defence president & CEO Ashish Rajvanshi opined.