KTR bats for defence corridor in State

Hyderabad: Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K T Rama Rao on Tuesday urged Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman to set up Defence Industrial Production Corridor in Telangana, stating that the State had requisite ecosystem for it.

In a letter written to the Union Minister, Rama Rao said the corridor would boost manufacturing sector in the State and generate jobs for locals. The Minister outlined various advantages Telangana and its capital city Hyderabad had to establish the corridor. He said the State had trained manpower and the proposed corridor would generate the much-needed jobs for local youngsters.

The Centre has proposed to set up two Defence Industrial Production Corridors in the Union Budget 2018-19. The first one was proposed between Chennai and Bangalore and the second one in Bundelkhand. Telangana is strategically located in the centre of the country and home to several public sector defence enterprises and DRDO labs including RCI, Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Bharat Dynamics Limited [BDL], Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd. (MIDHANI), Nuclear Fuel Complex, Electronics Corporation India Limited (ECIL), Bharat Electronics, Ordinance Factory, CITD, BHEL etc.

The State already has a vibrant ecosystem in private sector with several established companies in aerospace and defence sector. Several private firms such as Tata Advanced Systems Limited, MTAR, etc have established themselves as manufacturing partners for domestic and foreign OEMS. Several prestigious national defence and space programmes were supported by Telangana-based industries, he added.

Apart from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, the State had regional airports at Begumpet, Warangal and Ramagundam under Airports Authority of India and Dundigal and Hakimpet Airports managed by Indian Airforce, he said.