Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday said that Telangana has a strong public sector undertaking and private defence manufacturing ecosystem which has seen ‘unprecedented growth’ in the last five years.
Mr Rao was speaking at the US-India Defense Ties Conference where he said that aerospace and defence sectors have great potential. “Hyderabad has been a strong defence manufacturing ecosystem with over a dozen major DRDO labs and defence PSU establishments. We also have a private sector industry with 25 large companies and over 1,000 MSMEs in aerospace and the defence sector. Aerospace and the defence sectors in Telangana have witnessed unprecedented growth in the past five years. The role of US OEMs in developing the defence and aerospace industries in Hyderabad is extremely significant,” he said.
The State, Mr Rao said, has seen large investments by OEMs such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and GE Aviation, among others. He said that manufacturing in Hyderabad is export-oriented. “It is not just Make in India for India’s need, it is make in India for the world which is where this ecosystem and industry have a lot to offer. It is not just the current manufacturing in Hyderabad, it is not just linked to any offset of supply to Indian forces. This shows that Hyderabad has evolved as a preferred low-cost manufacturing ecosystem for global production,” Mr Rao said. The Minister pointed out that there are four aerospace parks in the city and more than four dozen general engineering parks. “We have in Adibhatla an aerospace SEZ which has come out to be a strong cluster. Also, in Nadergul Aerospace Park and the GMR SEZ which is attached to Hyderabad International Airport and the Adani Park which has come up recently. A large number of aerospace and defence firms are operating from the IT clusters, hardware parks, technology parks and SEZs catering to the aerospace and defence sectors,” he said.
