TN eyes USD 15 bn investments in aerospace, defence sectors

The Tamil Nadu government is eyeing investments worth USD 15 billion in the aerospace and defence sectors in the next 15 years to make the state a preferred hub for the two industries.

This was revealed in the ambitious aerospace and defence policy unveiled by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the inaugural day of the second edition of the Global Investors Meet here Wednesday.

The objective of the policy is to make Tamil Nadu the preferred hub for aerospace and defence industries in India in the areas of engineering, design, manufacturing and allied activities.

Sitharaman had on January 20 inaugurated the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor in Tiruchirappalli, about 300 km from Chennai. Investments worth over Rs 3,038 crore in this defence corridor were announced with majority of them from public sector undertakings.

The Aerospace and Defence Policy aims to attract an estimated investment of about USD five billion in a five-year period and another USD 10 billion in 10 years in the aerospace and defence sector.

The government also eyes job creation for about one lakh people in 10 years in the aerospace and defence industries.

Besides boosting the aerospace and defence industries, the policy would also harness Tamil Nadu's strengths in the automotive manufacturing sector.

Tamil Nadu is also home to several auto majors which have set up base in the State including Hyundai Motor India, Ford, BMW and India Yamaha Motors.

The government would also look at establishing Centre of Excellence, Research and Development and skill development institutions in the State by attracting global OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and major Indian companies in Tamil Nadu.

Some of the advantages Tamil Nadu has in boosting the sector as revealed in the policy was that the state ranks first in terms of number of factories and industrial workers.

The Gross State Domestic Product of Tamil Nadu grew at a compounded annual growth rate of about nine per cent between 2004-05 and 2016-17 higher than the national average of about 7.5 per cent.

The state is also the third largest manufacturer of electronic hardware in the country and the electronic hardware industry in the State has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent from 2008.

"Some of the Fortune 500 companies which have set up manufacturing facilities in the state include Motorola, Dell Computers, Samsung, Foxconn, Sanmina-SCI, Flextronics...," it said.

For developing the aerospace and defence industry ecosystem in the State, the government would undertake a "cluster development" approach in building the aerospace and defence manufacturing by creating the required infrastructure.

Through government agencies like Tamil Nadu Industrial Government Corporation and SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd), "aerospace and defence parks" based on requirement with adequate infrastructure would be established in the State.

The government would also develop a single window clearance facility through the Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance Bureau that would be available for entire aerospace and defence-related manufacturing and infrastructure projects "irrespective of the size" of the investment, it added.

The aerospace and defence policy was formally released by Sitharaman and the first copy was received by Chief Minister K Palaniswami.