BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up a defence industry corridor and an aeronautical university in the state for growth of defence industry.In his letter, Naveen said Odisha provides a comprehensive ecosystem and state-of-the-art industrial infrastructure facilities for indigenous design, development and manufacturing work in defence and aerospace sector.He explained that the state is a proper place to create such a corridor because it is the largest producer of steel, stainless steel and aluminium in the country. The letter said defence and aerospace grade products are available from the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Tata steel, Hindalco Industries Limited and Nalco.Existing manufacturing, testing and research ecosystem in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), aero engine facility at Koraput, Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, DRDO laboratory at Balasore and ordnance factory at Balangir will help the proposed corridor.Naveen further said large pool of skilled manpower and presence of national institutes like IIT, NIT, IIM, IIIT, IMMT, NISER and XIMB will help the defence industry to grow. Besides, the state has more than 1 lakh acres of industrial land bank and dedicated industrial regions to support downstream industries in aerospace and defence sector, he added.The chief minister mentioned in the letter that Odisha is in advanced stages of framing a dedicated defence and aerospace manufacturing policy to promote cluster-based development of the industry. In view of these unique advantages in the state, the overall cost of production of defence and aerospace products will be very competitive, said Naveen.He also said the proposed aeronautical university to be set up in collaboration with the HAL could be setg up in Odisha to strengthen skill and research."My government is committed towards the national vision of achieving self-reliance in defence and aerospace design and production. The state government will ensure unmatched facilitation support for quick and successful establishment of both the defence industry corridor and the aeronautical university in the state," said Naveen in his letter.

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