Chennai: Contending that domestic industries could meet the requirement of the Indian defence forces for the next ‘half-a-century’ Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated her plea for evolving a roadmap for promoting the critical components and service parts sector to meet the needs of Indian armed forces.
Companies, she said, should be “futuristic” in meeting the defence demands and the success lay in identifying the growth potential and charting a plan for the next 50 years and working with the armed forces. While assuring the Centre’s help on the issue, Ms Nirmala said she would facilitate a meeting of the army, navy and air force, the CII and state government to ensure development in the sector.
Tamil Nadu has a great potential in the industry sector. However, it is important that there are no hurdles for industries, and measures should be taken to remove hurdles if any. “We should plan for the next 50 years in capacity building,” she said while interacting with the members of the CII here on Saturday.
Later, speaking to reporters, she said domestic industries could play a vital role in meeting the requirement of the Indian defence. On the possibility of replicating the Avadi cluster of Defence in other parts of Tamil Nadu, she replied that Tamil Nadu industries minister M. C. Sampath had in a meeting mooted the idea of creating aerospace and defence parks in Salem. “I have told officials of CII and other leading industry associations in the state to hold talks with the Tamil Nadu government on this and give a plan. The Centre will definitely help,” she emphasised.
During the interaction, members suggested that HAL sourced its expansion plans in Tamil Nadu, as this would facilitate the growth of ancillary industries. Further, the Centre could intervene and help the MSME units which found it difficult to operate or even bag orders from the defence forces. They also stressed the need for a dedicated gas pipeline for the chemical industry sector.
