Telangana to soon unveil Aerospace and Defence Policy 2.0, says CM Revanth Reddy

Revanth Reddy. Participating in the "Raksha Expo" Curtain raiser programme on Saturday night, the Chief Minister highlighted the state government's vision to develop 'Raksha Expo' into an international platform to bring together all stakeholders from the defence sector for meaningful dialogue. The "Raksha Expo" is scheduled to be held as part of the 'Invest Telangana Global Summit' on December 7 to 9 at Bharat Future City in Hyderabad.CM Reddy also said that "Raksha Expo" will serve as a premier platform, bringing together global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The government was looking forward to industry representatives, senior defence and security officials, experts, and startups to bring innovative ideas and cutting-edge technologies. The Chief Minister claimed that the first edition of the summit held last year was a great success. He stated that Hyderabad is holding a strategic and pivotal position within India.

He told the participants that Hyderabad is an exceptionally safe city and serves as the home to numerous significant research institutions. Furthermore, several vital strategic centres for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force are located here. Though Telangana is the only state in South India that does not have a coastline, it provides critical services to the Indian Navy.

A Very Low Frequency (VLF) naval radar station is being constructed in the Damagundam Reserve Forest of Vikarabad district in Telangana.CM Reddy emphasised that the defence sector required talented youth. The premier educational institutions, such as IITs, IIITs, NITs, ISB, and BITS would cater to the needs of the defence sector. "We already established the 'Young India Skills University' to develop a skilled human resource base and upgraded the ITIs into Advanced Training Centres (ATCs).

Furthermore, there are successful incubators operating here," he said. Stating that he aspires to see India emerge as a global leader in the defence sector, the Chief Minister stressed that India must transition from being an importer of defence-related technology to becoming an exporter of the technology. Telangana is already making significant efforts to realise this vision, the CM said, adding that it is, however, essential that all the players contribute further to achieve even greater successes.

Telangana should emerge as the largest industrial hub for India's defence sector. The Chief Minister hoped that the meeting would collaborate not only in the defence sector but also in allied fields such as space, aerospace, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and drone technology to help realise this goal. Appealing to the investors to double their planned investments in Telangana, CM Reddy reiterated that the government will extend full cooperation.