Aero India 2021: Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh battling with each other for investments

The Karnataka government, which is a co-host of the biennial air show and the Uttar Pradesh administration, which will host a defence corridor, are vying to woo firms and investments at Aero India 2021, scheduled from February 3 to 5. There was a buzz before the previous edition of the event in 2019 that the show may be shifted to Lucknow. While that eventually didn’t happen and Aero India remained in Bengaluru, this year, the UP government, through the UP Defence Corridor stall, hopes to get a share of possible investments.Among other things, the Karnataka government, in collaboration with industry bodies and consultancy firms, will organise what it calls a ‘first-of-its-kind’ initiative: “Opportunities in aerospace & defence industry”. It is on February 4. An industries department statement read that the aim of the conference is to showcase Karnataka’s value proposition and investment opportunities. “We wish to address how the Centre under its Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign wishes to rope in not only major multinational defence corporates to manufacture indigenously, but also how focus has shifted towards MSMEs and SMEs willing to get into this sector and also encourage them to be a part of this growth story,” it stated. The government pointed to various incentives announced as part of its new industrial policy 2020-2025. “The government has announced pioneering reforms and attractive incentives to foster a dynamic industrial ecosystem in the state. The government would like to initiate the conversation with aerospace and defence companies and engage with them through the period leading up to Aero India and beyond,” it added. The UP government said for the first time, the UP Defence Corridor will be a part of Aero India-2021. UP’s additional chief secretary had told media in January that several foreign defence companies have signed agreements to put their units in the defence corridor being set up at six places in that state – Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Kanpur, Aligarh, Agra and Lucknow. At Aero India, UP hopes to showcase the corridor’s potential, the state’s policies and investments made by UPEIDA, the nodal agency for setting up the Defence Corridor. UP too will organise a seminar on the same day as Karnataka. UP hopes to sign at least 15 MOUs on the last day, while Karnataka is yet to make public of any such commitments.