Odisha in talks with Mahindra, Adani, Hinduja for defence manufacturing

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged the Centre to establish a defence industrial corridor and aeronautical university in Odisha

The Odisha government is in talks with some leading conglomerates such as Mahindra, Adani and Hinduja to explore possibilities of local defence manufacturing. The state government has plans to develop a defence manufacturing cluster and is giving final touches to an exclusive defence manufacturing policy.  

"Some of the companies that we have initiated talks with are keen to put up their defence manufacturing units. They have submitted a wish list and are awaiting the finalisation of our policy on defence manufacturing. Once we are done with the policy, we hope to attract some concrete proposals," said an official source. 

Recently, the state government invited the Tata group to set up a defence manufacturing cluster at Naraj, near Cuttack. While meeting Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekharan during his visit to the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik suggested that the cluster, to be spread across 871 acres of land, could be set up by Tata Advanced Systems at the site where another group company, Tata Power, has abandoned plans to set up a coal-based generating station.  

Patnaik has also urged the Centre to establish a defence industrial corridor, along with an aeronautical university, in Odisha. 

The state government sees immense value in defence manufacturing. Home to Chandipur, one of the busiest missile testing facilities, the state has in place an ecosystem to facilitate the growth of aerospace and defence sectors. Odisha also has a premier test laboratory set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Aside from the DRDO laboratory, there is an ordnance factory at Bolangir and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's aero engine facility at Koraput.  

The essential raw materials for manufacturing aerospace and defence components are iron, steel, ferro-alloys and aluminium, which are produced in significant quantities in the state. 

The state has attracted one investment in the defence sector from Mumbai-based Sure Safety Solutions Ltd. Anchored by Tata Steel, the unit for manufacturing aerial targets has come up on five acres of land at the industrial park at Gopalpur in south Odisha. The unit has been set up in technical collaboration with UK-based Meggit Defence at a cost of Rs 500 million.

Odisha has identified metal downstream and ancillary products as one of its focus sectors. The metal casting and forging industry provides major key components to the aerospace and defence sectors. With the government focusing on these two sectors, the sourcing of some of its major components might be easy.

A study report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) believes Odisha has the means to grow into a major hub for defence manufacturing. "With the presence of iron, steel, and aluminium industries that can act as suppliers to the aerospace and defence sector, a huge workforce, low costs of doing business, government policies and incentives to draw in investments, and upcoming industries such as casting, forging, and ancillaries, which may also act as key suppliers of components to the aerospace and defence sector, there are good prospects for the growth of aerospace and defence manufacturing in the state," the report said.

Apart from Odisha, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra have already formulated policies for aerospace and defence sectors.