First-Ever Private Defence Expo To Be Held In Chennai

“Defence & Technology Expo Empowering MSME”, the first ever Defence related Expo by the Private Sector in the country is scheduled to take place at Chennai Trade Centre between 26-28 May 2022.

Hon’ble Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the Chief Guest for the valedictory function on 28th May 2022 and the event will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt on 26th May 2022. The event is being organized by Swatantra Foundation, a Chennai based think tank along with TIDCO & Lagu Udyog Bharati as co-hosts. Department of Defence Production is lending logo support for this event. Several other organisations are supporting this event.

S Ramasubramanian, Founder & President of Swatantra Foundation which is organizing this event said, “Swatantra Foundation is proud to have obtained the consent for organising this Defence Expo and honoured to have the Defence Minister and Minister of State for Defence to attend this event as Guests of Honour. Our focus for this event is to connect MSMEs with  large Defence manufacturers through B2B meetings to create business opportunities”.

President of Swatantra Foundation further added, “The event stalls have been fully booked with over 250 stalls by MSMEs and more than 50 stalls by Defence PSUs and large corporates, which shows the huge interest among the companies in participating in the fast growing defence production industry.  We expect over 4,000 B2B visitors to attend the 3-day Expo to gain keen insights on the fast paced developments in this sector.”

Speaking about the event, S Seetharaman, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the event said, “This is the first ever private sector held Defence Expo in the country, conceived with the aim of accelerating the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” vision of the Government through indigenisation of components for defence equipment. The event will be a great platform for MSMEs to showcase their capabilities and for large Defence PSUs and Corporates to display their indigenisation requirements”.

R Hariharan, National Vice President, Lagu Udyog Bharati added “Govt of India has announced several defence equipment components for positive indigenisation in the recent months, which augurs well for the MSMEs to enter the Defence Production sector as suppliers to large corporates and Defence PSUs.  Large off-set requirement obligations on foreign defence manufacturers for recent defence imports also opens up the sector for private players significantly. This expo is being conducted at this opportune time to connect all the players in a common platform”

Key participants at the event include HAL, BEML, Bharat Dynamics, Heavy Vehicles Factory, Engine Factory, Ordnance Factory Medak, Indian Navy Indigenisation, Indian Navy procurement, Indian Air force BRDs, Indian Air force Indigenisation, Indian Air force procurement, ISRO, DRDO, Dassault Systemes, Super Auto Forge, Munition India Group, Advanced Weapons Group, Bharat Forge and many more.

The event will have 3 key components viz. the Exhibition, Day-long seminars and pre-booked B2B interactions.  The event is meant for only business visitors and is not open for the general public, as the event is structured as a serious B2B and B2G interaction opportunity.  Business visitors can register at https://defenceexpotn.in/visitor-schedule/  and can also walk in with a valid business card and ID proof to spot register at the venue on all the 3 days.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.