Kerala can be a aerospace, defence industry hub: Narayanan

Kerala can become an aerospace and defence industry hub said S Anantha Narayanan, director, Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), at Kerala's first Defence Industry Symposium organised at Kochi on 26 and 27 July, with the participation of the Kerala Industries Department, the Kerala Small Industries Association (KSIA), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

With the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the NPOL under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a design agency, and the Indian Navy as the ultimate user, the state's case for a vibrant defence industry is strong. Besides, Kerala has three international airports, and has an abundance of knowledge-intensive manpower, availability of raw materials, and financial institutions and resources

Narayanan said that the aerospace industry has grown around Bangalore, while defence industries are located in places like Mumbai, Hyderabad and Vishakapatnam. With the business potential available, another area can be identified and groomed for defence production, so that its complete potential can be realised. The potential defence and aerospace hub can contribute to Indian space and defence research, and will foster the growth of a large number of private ancillary industries to produce world-class systems which can be exported to other countries.

Calling for a cluster approach to development of the aerospace and defence industry in order to capitalise on the huge market opened up by the offsets policy of the union government in defence purchases, Narayanan said that Kerala's major industries should create a number of industry consortia, each of which can cater for specialisations like missiles, aircraft, land systems, sonar, radars, and mission control software.