UP govt, IIT Kanpur join hands for Bundelkhand Defence Corridor centre

The Uttar Pradesh government and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K), have joined hands to set up a Centre of Excellence for the proposed Bundelkhand Defence Corridor.

The proposed centre would entail investment of about Rs 3.65 billion, to be contributed by the state government and IIT-K, official sources told Business Standard.

UP chief secretary Anup Chandra Pandey has asked IIT-K deputy director Manindra Agarwal to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) so that the work begins as soon as possible.

After inaugurating UP Investors’ Summit on February 21 in Lucknow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that a Defence Corridor would be developed in Bundelkhand. Subsequently, IIT-K conceived the idea for such a centre to aid the different defence manufacturing verticals, including aerospace technology.

Pandey said the state government was keen to start work on the Centre of Excellence and the funding part would be worked out soon with the IIT-K officials.

Meanwhile, Agarwal said the centre would help boost industrial growth in UP at large, apart from boosting the defence manufacturing sector in particular.

“While, we plan to submit a preliminary DPR within a week or so as requisitioned by the government, the institute would engage a professional consultant to prepare the final DPR for the project,” he informed.

He said the funds would be contributed jointly by the state government, IIT-K and by mobilising other resources at hand. “There would not be any funding constraints for the project given the IIT-K credibility and its large alumni pool.”

Bundelkhand Defence Corridor is one of the flagship projects of the Yogi Adityanath government, alongside the proposed mega projects of Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway and Jewar International Airport.

While Modi had said the Defence Corridor project would attract about Rs 200 billion of direct investment, Adityanath had said the mega project had the potential to generate a net investment of almost Rs 1 trillion.

Bundelkhand Defence Corridor spans six districts --- Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi and Chitrakoot. Recently, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had participated at a related event in Aligarh in the presence of CM Adityanath and senior officials of the three wings of the Indian defence forces.

On the occasion, Adityanath had announced that UP had identified about 4,000 hectares of land near Jhansi flanking the proposed route of the Bundelkhand Expressway for the corridor and the survey work had already been completed. 

“We have also identified 263 hectares of land in Aligarh as well to leverage the inherent strength of the district in industrial manufacturing of locks and other hardware.”

Meanwhile, Sitharaman had exhorted the indigenous defence manufacturing industry to look beyond the procurement by Indian forces to tap the lucrative export market for growth even as she assured all support by the Centre.