Sunday 14 September 2014

Andhra Pradesh eyes defence, aerospace investments

VISAKHAPATNAM: With neighbour Telangana stealing a march on it in attracting investments in defence and aerospace sectors, the Andhra Pradesh government is now planning a separate policy to woo private investors in these two crucial areas.

According to sources, while the industrial policy will focus on providing land and single window clearance system among others, a comprehensive defence and aerospace policy will be formulated after consultations with stakeholders.

AP industries commissioner Rajat Kumar said, "The government has identified a few thrust areas and defence and aerospace sectors are among them."

Keeping in mind that the defence and aerospace sectors are niche areas requiring huge investments, sources said the government has already held talks with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Andhra Pradesh for seeking its inputs for formulating a policy.

According to industry sources, a meeting was also held to gather inputs from various agencies including officials of Eastern Naval Command (ENC), Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the city recently.

Industry sources pointed out that with the ENC and Satish Dhawan Space Centre-Sriharikota Range (SHAR) located in the state, the Vizag-Chennai corridor would be ideal for attracting private investments in the defence and aerospace sectors.

Another industry source said, "Even the central government is keen on indigenizing manufacturing in the defence sector. So the AP government can capitalise on this by inviting defence companies to the state by providing them with the necessary infrastructure and incentives. Moreover, with organisations like SHAR in the state, the government can help private players set up units for assembling defence and aerospace equipment. This can ease logistical issues for defence establishments."

"Aerospace and defence industries are high technology areas, and the rapid technological advancements will only make them even more high-tech. Considering this, AP government can focus more on promoting investments in design, manufacturing and testing of electronic components that go into the making of aircraft and other systems. This will enable AP as well as the country capture the growing global aerospace and defence market which is currently pegged at over $800bn," said co-founder of Sankhya Technologies, Murali Bulusu.