Rajnath Singh To Inaugurate Shirdi Defence Complex on May 23

Mumbai: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will inaugurate the Shirdi Defence Manufacturing Complex in Ahilyanagar district on May 23, marking a major milestone in India’s push for defence self-reliance.

The defence manufacturing facility, which will produce five lakh artillery shells annually, has been built within 12 months and is being viewed as a significant boost to the Centre’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative in the defence sector. Officials said the facility would be the world’s third-largest manufacturing unit of its kind and would create around 2,000 jobs in Maharashtra.

Spread across 200 acres in the Shirdi MIDC area, the facility has been developed by NIBE Limited with an initial investment of Rs 1,000 crore.

Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said, “Shirdi represents a confluence of Bhakti (devotion) and Shakti (power). On one hand, it is blessed by the grace of Sai Baba, while on the other, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we aim to develop Shirdi into a major defence manufacturing hub. It is a matter of pride that Ahilyanagar district is emerging as a key centre for defence manufacturing and my constituency, Shirdi, has been selected for this important project.”

India currently operates the Pinaka Rocket System, an indigenous all-weather multi-barrel rocket launcher developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation for the Indian Army, with a strike range of around 70 km. However, NIBE Group Chairman and Managing Director Ganesh Nibe said the company had developed an indigenous universal rocket launcher with a range of 300 km.

According to the NIBE Group, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan will also attend the inauguration of the Shirdi Defence Manufacturing Complex. The two-day event will feature a large-scale defence capability display and MSME showcase, where NIBE Group and partner MSMEs will present indigenous technologies, innovative products and manufacturing solutions.

Mr Nibe said the facility would manufacture artillery shells, drones, explosives, aerospace equipment and other defence systems. “We have the capability to produce five lakh shells per annum,” he said, adding that the company had received 70 per cent of its export orders from foreign countries.