Selected as one of the geographical areas in India to host a defence Industrial Corridor, the State of Uttar Pradesh has allocated over 5,000 hectares of land in Bundelkhand, Agra and Aligarh for the purpose of this becoming “a world-class manufacturing hub for Indian and global aerospace and defence (A&D) industry”. This area would also encompass Chitrakoot, Lucknow, Kanpur and Jhansi, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi having laid the foundation stone at the last named city in 2018.
According to reports, the project is expected to attract Rs 20,000 crore investments and the UP Industry Department have plans for incentives to industry. To encourage private enterprises to establish industries without specifying areas, the UPDC would allow them to set their bases not only on earmarked government land but also cover entire cities in identified areas.
Prominent organisations which have expressed interest in setting up facilities in the UP Defence Industrial Corridor coming include Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Group, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, ITC, Medanta Group, HCL Group, PepsiCo India, Tata Sons, Samsung India, Adani Group and the Torrent Group.
Public sector undertakings which have long had production facilities in the UP area include Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with their Accessories Complex headquartered at Lucknow, the Transport Aircraft Division at Kanpur and the Advanced Avionics Complex at Korwa (District Amethi).
Ordnance Factories have been functioning not only at Kanpur (where is located the small arms and field gun factories) but at Shahjahanpur (Ordnance Clothing Factory), Hazratpur and Muradnagar.