New Delhi: There is no proposal to establish any new defence industrial corridor in the country, Parliament was informed on Friday.
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said this in written response to a query in the Lok Sabha.
The government, in its budget for 2018-19, announced setting up of two defence industrial corridors (DICs) to develop a holistic defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country, he said.
One corridor has been established in Uttar Pradesh with six nodes, namely Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Lucknow. The second is in Tamil Nadu with five nodes, namely Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchirappalli, he said.
“As per the information received from the government of Uttar Pradesh, 108
Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed with industry/organisation having potential investment of Rs 12,191 crore. Investment of Rs 2,445 crore has already taken place in Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC),” he said.
Further, as per information received from the government of Tamil Nadu, arrangements have been made with 53 industries for potential investment of Rs 11,794 crore. Investment worth Rs 3,894 crore has already taken place in Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC), the minister said.
Asked if there is any proposal to establish more defence industrial corridors in the
country, Bhatt said there is no proposal to establish any new defence industrial corridor.
In response to another query on “whether it is a fact that more than a dozen papers have been submitted by DGPs and IGPs in the recently concluded conference conducted by Intelligence Bureau on the subject ‘Chinese influence in the neighbourhood and implications for India'”, the minister said, “The information sought is sensitive in nature and cannot be divulged on the floor of the House in the interest of the national security.”
In response to another query on whether Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is in talks with various countries to sell its light combat aircraft Tejas, he said, “The information sought is sensitive in nature and cannot be divulged on the floor of the House in the interest of the national security.”
The minister of state for defence, in a separate written query, was asked whether the government has reduced the construction restrictions near defence establishments to just 50 metres from 500 metres.
He said in his written response: “The revised NoC guidelines issued by MoD on 23.12.2022 reducing the restricted distance in vicinity of defence establishment of Army, Navy and Coast Guard at specific locations to 50 metres have been kept in abeyance till standard operating procedure is formulated in consultation with stakeholders for issue of NoCs.”
On a written query on whether arrears of one rank one pension (OROP) been paid to the eligible pensioners of armed forces, the minister said the payment of arrears of OROP to eligible pensioners of the armed forces is in progress as per policy of the government.
“So far, Rs 5,065.70 crore has been paid as arrear of OROP to eligible pensioners of Armed Forces as on 13.03.2023,” he said.
In a separate question, the minister was also asked for details of private companies engaged in defence sector.
“Defence industry sector was opened up in May 2001 up to 100 per cent for Indian private sector participation. Since the opening up of defence sector, till date, a total of 601 industrial licenses have been issued to 368 companies operating in defence sector,” the minister said in a written response.
Bhatt also shared his written response on query on bullet proof jackets and helmets for armed forces and other law enforcement forces.
The government undertakes procurement of bullet proof jackets and helmets
for armed forces and other law enforcement forces from time to time from domestic
manufacturers, he said.
These are procured as per laid down specifications and authorization after due
testing and evaluation. Bullet proof helmets procured by Indian Army and Central Armed Police Forces are “compliant to the specifications and NIJ (National Institute of Justice of USA) protection/ threat levels approved by the competent authorities,” he said in his response.
The upgradation, procurement and provisioning of improved version of bullet
proof jackets and helmets, is a continuous process for which necessary steps
are taken regularly.
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