'Efforts will be made to manufacture military equipment in TN'

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said efforts would be made to manufacture military equipment in Tamil Nadu and urged local entrepreneurs to take part in it.

"Efforts will be made to manufacture military equipment in Tamil Nadu. Entrepreneurs of the local area should come forward to manufacture them," she said.

There was also a plan to scale up production of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, she said.

Currently, HAL produces around eight Tejas, a single engine multi-role aircraft, annually and the defence ministry wants it to increase the number to 18 planes per year.

She was addressing a meeting here on the proposed defence manufacturing corridor in Tamil Nadu and an interactive session on business opportunities in the defence sector.

Sitharaman had said on February 2 that the first of the two defence industrial production corridors, as announced in the Union Budget, would link Chennai and Bengaluru.

The minister today held discussions on the requirements of the defence sector, how to procure raw material and store them and how small and micro industries could play a role in the production of ordnance factory items.