Defence Minister to Chair Aerospace & Defence Industries ‘CEOs Round Table’ at Aero India 2023

Pramesh S Jain


AeroIndia 2023: A platform for ‘Make-in-India for the world’

The Ministry of Defence is organizing a ‘CEOs Round Table’ on 13th February, the inaugural Day of Aero India 2023,under the chairmanship of Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh.

The platform,with theme “Sky is not the limit:
opportunities beyond boundaries,is expected to lay the foundation of a more robust interaction between the Industry Partners and Government with an eye on bolstering the ‘Make-in India’ campaign.

It is further expected to increase ‘Ease of doing business’ in India and also provide a favorable platform to OEMs for manufacturing in India.

The Round Table will see participation from officials,delegates and global CEOs from 26 countries including global investors such as Boeing, Lockheed, Israel Aerospace Industries,General Atomics,Liebherr Group,Raytheon Technologies,Safran,General Authority of Military Industries (GAMI) etc.

Domestic PSUslike Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL),Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL),BEML Limited,MishraDhatu Nigam Limited will also participate in the Round Table.

Premier private Defence and Aerospace manufacturing companies from India such as Larsen & Toubro,Bharat Forge, Dynamitic Technologies, BrahMos Aerosapceare also likely to be part of the event.

This would engage industries for co-development and co-production to make India a commercial manufacturing hub and base for global product support.

It will explore Indian and Global markets; create opportunities for industries to not just ‘Make in India’, but ‘Make in India’ for the world.

India has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies globally,providing the world with a thriving and stable environment for investments and trade.

The growing focus on India can be attributed to its business environment and pursuit of cost-effective competitiveness.

Today,India has the 3rd largest military in the world and the Government plans to spend USD 130 billion for fleet modernization over the next 5-7 years.

A series of policy initiatives such as De-licensing, De-regulation,Positive Indigenization Lists for import substitution,Export Promotion,FDI Liberalization and Establishment of Defence Industrial Corridors amongst others have been taken by the Government to boost “Self-reliance”in the Indian defence manufacturing eco-system.

A premier exhibition in the global aviation industry, Aero India,is India’s Aerospace and Defence exhibition, held biennially at the Air Force Station,Yelahanka in a total area of around 35,000 sqm.

This year marks the 14th edition of the exhibition since its inception in 1996 and provides a unique opportunity to the industry to showcase its capabilities,products and services.

In this edition of Aero show, a total of 731 exhibitors have participated across the world.

The five-day event will be inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India,Narendra Modi and will include aerial displays by aircrafts along with a large exhibition and trade fair of aerospace companies.

This year, the exhibition is expected to be the biggest airshow with the highest rate of participation and will feature top international think-tanks,major aerospace companies and world leaders.

As India is emerging as a promising Aerospace and Defence manufacturing hub, global companies are discovering new partnerships for mutual goal.

The Aero India show provides numerous platforms for firms within the Aerospace and Defence industries to forge partnerships to address the present and future needs of this sector.