Reliance picks 2 locations in MP for defence manufacturing

Anil Ambani said India has relaxed foreign direct investment norms in the defence sector and hoped that Madhya Pradesh gets the benefits of the same

Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani on Saturday said with 90 per cent of defence equipment being imported, there is a huge opportunity for domestic manufacturing and his group has identified two locations in Madhya Pradesh for setting up production facilities.

Ambani said India has relaxed foreign direct investment norms in the defence sector and hoped that Madhya Pradesh gets the benefits of the same.

"I am confident that Madhya Pradesh will move ahead, and under Prime Minister Narendra Modi we have seen opening on defence sector. Reliance Group is participating in that and we hope that for Make in India programme, we will invest in the defence sector in Madhya Pradesh," he said.

Speaking at the Global Investors Summit, Ambani said his Group has identified two locations - one in Pithampur and another in Bhopal - for defence manufacturing. Talking about the Group's investment in the state, Ambani said, "We have one of our largest investments in MP...we have investment of nearly $6 billion".

The Group has set up a 4,000-Mw power plant in MP and it makes the state competitive in terms of its overall energy cost to attract future investments, especially in capital intensive industries.

"It helped Madhya Pradesh save about Rs 5,000 crore a year and over Rs 1.25 lakh crore will be the savings for MP because of the Sasan plant," he said.