Bharat Electronics to set up new facility in Andhra

Unit will come up on 900 acres, at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday laid foundation stone for a new facility being set up by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at an estimated investment of Rs 500 crore in Anantapur district bordering Karnataka.

Coming up on 900 acres, the facility is an extension of BEL's Missile Systems Strategic Business Unit at its Bangalore Complex.

It will house state-of-the-art infrastructure including assembly hangars, hard stands for radars, and weapon integration, RF radiation sources for target stimulation, automatic test equipment, missile storage buildings among other facilities.

"We want to make Rayalaseema and Prakasam districts as defence hubs. My focus is also to develop a strong MSME ecosystem in this sector with ancillary units around Visakhapatnam, Nellore and Anantapur districts," chief minister Naidu said.

BEL had established its first manufacturing unit in AP at Machilipatnam in 1982.