India is the world’s largest military hardware importer and among the top 5 military spenders. The Indian defence industry is going through a rapid change and indigenous manufacturing is being promoted extensively under the ‘Make in India’ scheme. The Finance Ministry of India has also announced foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 74 per cent under the automatic route in the defence sector. The Union Budget 2021-22 allocated $ 49.55 Bn for defence services and other organizations/departments under the Ministry of defence (excluding defence pensions). The government is encouraging collaborations like joint ventures, partnerships, offsets, etc. with an aim to decrease foreign dependency.

To expand the defence manufacturing capability within the country and reducing foreign dependency, two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs) in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are progressing at a rapid pace. Uttar Pradesh, Defence Industrial Corridor is a Greenfield project. In order to initiate growth of manufacturing industry, the state has come out with various incentives and subsidies in its Defence & Aerospace Unit and Employment Promotion Policy. A large number of industries including MSMEs and Start-Ups from non-defence sector in the region would be able to take advantage of the Aerospace & Defence Policy and integrate into the defence manufacturing ecosystem. The state also provides all desired approvals to the Aerospace and Defence manufacturing units through single window system.

The state has declared 6 districts (Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Chitrakoot) as the defence node. In order to initiate growth of the manufacturing industry, the state has come out with various incentives and subsidies in its Defence & Aerospace Unit and Employment Promotion Policy. A large number of industries including MSMEs and start-ups from the non-defence sector in the region would be able to take advantage of the Aerospace & Defence Policy and integrate themselves into the defence manufacturing ecosystem. The state also provides all desired approvals to the Aerospace and Defence manufacturing units through the single window system.