New Delhi (India), Feb 10 (ANI): The defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will generate 3.5 lakh jobs at their various stages of supply chain, said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday.

“The two defence corridors are expected to generate 3.5 lakh jobs—2.5 lakh in Uttar Pradesh and one lakh in Tamil Nadu at various stages of the supply chain,” said Sitharaman in a Facebook post.

According to her, investments worth Rs 3,200 crore have already been announced for Tamil Nadu defence corridor, while a defence investors’ cell has been set up to ensure speedy development of the corridor in Uttar Pradesh.

Talking about improving ease of doing business in the country, she said: “India has made a significant jump of 65 places, from 142 in 2014 to 77 in 2018 in the global ‘Ease of Doing Business’ Rankings in the last four years.”

Defence Minister Sitharaman attributed India’s improving business milieu to the ‘mantra’ of ‘Reform, Perform and Transform.’

“Make in India, the big-ticket policy launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will turn the nation into a manufacturing hub,” she said. “NDA government has promoted the Make in India, especially in defence sector to invigorate the indigenous industry,” she said.

“The steps to reduce the burden on imports and make India an important player in the global supply chain are already showing great results at the ground level,” she said.

“A comprehensive approach has been adopted where policy changes and on-ground programmes have simultaneous been implemented with a long term vision to convert India from a defence importer into a defence exporter,” she said.

The Defence Procurement Policy 2016 has introduced many changes that focus on giving priority to the procurements from Indian manufacturers and service providers. Accordingly, the Central government has taken steps to develop infrastructure and build capacity in various locations across the nation.

“Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu defence industrial corridors, as announced by the Finance Minister in his 2018 Budget speech, have been landmark decisions in that direction,” she said.

The purpose of the corridor is to revive the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and encourage Micro Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to work closely with PSUs for defence indigenisation.

“Small businessmen often complain that they still run from pillar to post and wait for days to test components and get them certified before they supply to the assembling units. Defence corridor attempts to change this status quo and encourage private players to venture into the defence sector,” said Sitharaman. (ANI)

