Defense sector opportunities in Adityapur Industrial Area

Cdr Sanjeev Raman

Adityapur Industrial Area (AIA) is spread across approximately 33000 acres. It is one of the largest Industrial bases in the country. The industrial base specializes in forging, casting, sheet metal work, catering to Auto and Steel sector. Inspite of being the largest and one of the oldest industrial bases, the growth is very timid in comparison to other industrial bases in the country. Adityapur Industrial Area needs to keep pace with the rapid industrialization which the country is witnessing. It did not get a share of the many new emerging sectors including Defense, IT, Logistics Railways etc., which is witnessing a boom in the current scenario. The reasons could be many. Participation of youth and new generation entrepreneur is the need of the hour to take advantage of the  emerging industrial scenario to for better growth and upliftment of the industrial area.  Keeping this in mind, Jamshedpur Citizens Forum organized a Seminar on “Role of Youth in National Security and  Opportunities in Defense for Adityapur Industrial Area.  Minister of State for Defense Sanjay Seth addressed the gathering.

Exposure to the Defense sector

The apprehension to enter the sector can only be dissipated by proper communication. The Minister mentioned that the first step towards this is to hold a Defense Expo in Ranchi. Participation of Indian and forging companies showcasing their product will give an insight to the industrialists about the potential of the sector.

Second is to get an opportunity for B2B business meeting. It would help in synergizing the utility of the existing infrastructure for better usage in production of defense products and components.

The above activities will certainly create awareness about of intensity of the activities happening in the defense sector in the country. It will break the shackles in the minds of the industrialists about the sector.

Breaking the Iron Wall

The above will have a catalyst action in expanding the scope of the Adityapur Industrial Area activities.

First – it will  help in establishing direct communication with the Armed Forces, DRDO labs, OFBs, and the PSE, which  is crucial.

Second – The Armed Forces have established Indigenization Cell across the country, which helps the industrialist in understanding the product and the component level requirements. The complete defense procurement process can be directly understood by interacting with them.

Third – To what extent the initial development cost in designing, prototype testing is funded by the Armed Forces can be understood to bring down the initial investment cost. Generally people have an idea that these costs are not reimbursed,  which is not true.

Fourth – The product, once approved, can be supplied across the Forces (Army, Navy & Airforce) for common utilization thereby increasing the volume.

Fifth – Many of these products can be exported after it acceptability in the Armed Forces. The armed forces products are sourced by global players for integration in their equipment and systems for cost efficiency.  It will open the opportunity for export.

Sixth – The private Indian players operating in the sector will also have commercial application of these products in their equipment.

Youth Participation

Government of India has formed Defense Innovation Organisation  (DIO) under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence Production. In Jun 2023, it also launched the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), which gives opportunities to US and Indian companies of all sizes alongwith incubators, accelerators, investors and universities to collaborate.

On a regular basis, Defence India StartUp Challenge (DISC) is being floated with defined problem statement given by the Armed Forces. The 12^th edition was launched on 07^th Oct 24 with 41 problem statements whereas the  13^th edition was launched on 29^th Oct 24 with  seven problem statements across Armed Forces covering area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Networking etc. . .Participation of youth in finding  technology and innovative solution is encouraged by Government of India under Innovation for Defense  Excellence (iDEX) Challenge using StartUp India.

There is a wide information gap currently existing in the minds of the industrialists in Aditypaur Industrial area. Such initiative will certainly help in removing the cloud cover and providing a clear picture of the sector, which is a recession free sector.

 (Author is Secretary Jamshedpur Citizens Forum. The views expressed are personal.)