Process to Set Up Defence Industrial Corridor in Assam in Advance Stage: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Chief Minister Sarma also maintained that his government wants defence industries to foray into Assam and produce defence items as he believes that it will help in creating employment avenues

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today informed that the process to set up a defence industrial corridor in the state is in an advanced stage.

Chief Minister Sarma who met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on July 23, termed the meeting fruitful and informed that the Defence Minister has shown keen interest in setting up the key defence facility in the state.

“The defence minister is very positive that Assam should have a defence corridor. Defence corridors for Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have been notified. Assam’s case is in advanced consideration. We have pushed it to a large extent,” Chief Minister Sarma said while addressing the media.

Sarma also maintained that his government wants defence industries to foray into Assam and produce defence items as he believes that it will help in creating employment avenues.

“All the defence items should be produced in Assam. It is like any other industry, however, as it is related to defence, hence it is a bit sensitive,” Chief Minister Sarma added.

Earlier, Chief Minister Sarma said that the idea behind establishing the defence corridor is to utilise Assam’s competitive advantage to become a Defence manufacturing hub.

Moreover, both the leaders also deliberated on the possibility of organising a Defence Conclave in Assam.

It may be mentioned, that after the Rs 27,000 Crore semi-conductor project in Morigaon, the Assam government is looking for another huge investment for setting up a Defence Industrial Corridor (DIC) from Guwahati to Tezpur (covering 51 sub-Area, Narengi to 4 Corps headquarters, Tezpur) to attract foreign investors for setting up defence-based industries, especially arms and military equipment.

At present, India has established two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to promote indigenous production of defence and aerospace-related items and reduce dependence on imports.

Some of the key Objectives of Defence Industrial Corridors are-

• Promoting self-reliance in defence manufacturing
• Reduce dependence on imports
• Encourage exports of defence-related products
• Generate employment opportunities, especially in the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector
• Spur economic growth

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