Tamil Nadu defence corridor to create 5 lakh jobs

The proposed defence production corridor in Tamil Nadu — as mooted by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the budget session on Thursday — can attract investments of Rs 1,50,000 crore and create 5,00,000 hightech jobs in Tamil Nadu till 2030, claim industry experts.  

The defence production corridor will connect pre-existing defence manufacturing hubs in Kattupalli and Avadi in Chennai to Bengaluru, via Kalpakkam in Kanchipuram, Tiruchy, Coimbatore and Hosur. 

While Kattupalli with the L&T Shipbuilding and Avadi with Heavy Vehicles Factory have Tier-I units, which design and assemble the equipment, the other places have Tier II, III and IV level companies, already producing and supplying components for defence technology. Industry experts said that the state can accommodate indigenous requirements of defence and paramilitary services in platform (aircraft, helicopter, ships and other capital-intensive infrastructure), products (component manufacturers for battlefield tanks, guns, missile systems, etc) and services (support defence units for AMC repair, overhaul, software support, equipment modification and quality control).  

Vinod Surana of ASSOCHAM Tamil Nadu and Southern Region Development Council — who had conceptualised and pitched the concept to the state and central government authorities — said that through this corridor, Tamil Nadu can get investment of approximately Rs 1,50,000 crore. It also has the possibility of creating 5,00,000 high-tech jobs, helping facilitate distributed growth across the state, Surana said and added, “Our case study indicated that Tamil Nadu is well-suited for a large defence corridor, because we already have two Tier-1 manufacturing units and many more that supply to the other tiers.” 

“The state already has a high concentration of top educational institutions and is a hub for IT and automobile industries, with a vibrant start-up ecosystem,” he added. Army veteran Retired Colonel Rama Krishnan, who held key positions in the Infantry division, pointed out that there are ongoing projects with universities in Tamil Nadu and Coimbatore, where indigenous technology is being developed. 

“We have been importing quite a few of our defence needs, mainly because we did not have indigenous technology but now, that has changed. In due course of time, indigenous technology will come up in a big way and eventually, meet most of our needs,” said Krishnan.