“The Defence Expo 2020 will be a historic one for Uttar Pradesh. The state will become a destination for defence manufacturing and aerospace manufacturing. India will become the hub of defence equipment production as well as export and Uttar Pradesh will play an important role in it in the near future.” said Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister, GOI. The theme of the DEFEXPO 2020 is “Digital Transformation of Defence”
Defence Expo 2020 will be held for the first time in Lucknow from February 5 to 9. The mega event will be held at Vrindavan Yojana Sector 15 on the PGI road. It will be the biggest ever defence exhibition in the country in terms of participation of the exhibitors, the area of the exhibition and the revenue to be earned. Delegations from more than 18 countries have confirmed to be a part of the Defence Expo 2020. As many as 70 nations are expected to participate in the expo.
The exhibition will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi. More than 900 international defence manufacturing companies have registered and will be held over an area of almost 42,000 square meters. Defence Expo 2018 saw the participation of 702 exhibitors. The 11th biennial edition of DefExpo India- 2020 will see all the global industry elite to present their weaponry and defence equipment. The government has been showcasing the potential of different states through these defence industry events.
HAL has been made the nodal agency by the ministry of defence for conducting the four-day expo beginning from February 5, 2020. HAL is the state-owned aerospace and defence company. It has been given the responsibility of overseeing other preparations such as emergency services, catering and management of entry-exit points. It will display the indigenous fighter jet ‘Tejas’ and ‘Dhruv helicopter’ at the expo, both manufactured by HAL.
The state government is offering various incentives to investors for establishing units along the corridor. Companies setting up their stalls at the expo and willing to invest in the defence corridor would be playing visits to the region to select desired lands for their projects. The state government is also offering investors tax rebates for companies willing to set up units in Bundelkhand in order to bring more investors. In 2018, the UP government also came up with the UP Defence and Manufacturing Policy 2018 with an investment projection of Rs 50,00 crore over the next five years.
Defence Exhibition Organisation is an autonomous organisation of the Indian Government established in 1981. The organisation was established to promote the export potential of the Indian defence industry. The agency is responsible for organising international exhibitions such as DEFEXPO and Indian participation at overseas exhibitions.
