Bhubaneswar: The Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, Saturday urged the prime minister Narendra Modi for establishment of a dedicated Defence Industry Corridor and an Aeronautical University in the state.
Patnaik, in a letter to Modi, has stated that Odisha has all the potential for manufacturing in defence and aeronautical sector. The Tata Steel, Hindalco, Nalco, SAIL, HAL(Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd), ITR(Integrated Test Range) at Chandipur, DRDO Centre at Balasore and Ordinance Factory at Balangir are located in the state and are engaged in manufacturing steel, aluminium and defence equipments, he pointed out.
“The state is also in advanced stages of promulgating a dedicated defence and aerospace manufacturing policy to promote cluster based development of the industry. In view of these unique advantages in the state, the overall cost of production of defence and aerospace products would be very clearly competitive,” stated the chief minister in his letter to Modi.
