Preparations on for DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow; 165 countries to participate

PM Modi will inaugurate the mega show on Wednesday

Uttar Pradesh's capital city is getting ready to host 11th edition of biennial Defence Expo 2020 from February 5th to 9th. The event will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday.

Nearly 1,000 exhibitors will participate in the event including 165 foreign companies from the US, France, Germany, Russia, Israel, Australia etc, making it the largest ever defence show. It is being at the initiative of defence minister Rajnath Singh, who represents the constituency in Lok Sabha.

The theme of DefExpo 2020 ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’ will cover the entire spectrum of the country's aerospace, defence and security interests. The event aims at bringing state-of-art technologies in the defence sector under one roof and provide numerous of opportunities for the government, private manufactures and startups.

UP chief minister Adityanath said the state would benefit immensely from the mega defence expo in the form of attracting big ticket investments and large scale employment generation. The state is gearing up to gain maximum traction from DefExpo by highlighting the positive stories emerging from the event.

This year, exhibition area has also gone up by 58 per cent to over 42,800 square metres compared to 26,774 square metres during DefExpo 2018. The event will be streamed live over various media platforms and coffee table books will be published for enhanced publicity.

A large number of agreements and memorandum of understanding (MoU) totalling nearly 65 are likely to be firmed up at the Expo, resulting in forging of new business collaborations.

The local public transport has been branded for DefExpo and special buses also launched for ferrying people to the Expo venue, where security has been tightened to ensure hassle free event.

The ‘India Pavilion’ will showcase the integration between the public and private sector, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)/Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and innovation eco-system.

Besides, there will be a sizeable UP Pavilion at the DefExpo venue. Apart from displaying industrial prowess and potential for investment, the Adityanath government will also organise cultural programmes showcasing rich cultural heritage of the state.

The state government will also highlight its proposed Defence Corridor, which is expected to entail initial investment to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore across its six nodes.