BENGALURU: To stay ahead of competition, the State Government is coming up with a new Defence and Aerospace Policy that will focus on attracting investment in the sector. Karnataka was the first state to come out with an aerospace policy in 2013, and the new proposal is intended to factor in developments in the last eight years as well as emerging sectors.
Karnataka has a share of over 65 per cent in exports from the defence and aerospace sectors. The latest move is aimed at maintaining that lead and lay emphasis on indigenous production under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Monday, while presenting the State Budget 2021-22 at the Vidhana Soudha.
“Since 2013, a lot of developments have taken place and most of the sourcing is happening from here. We are looking at expanding the policy to include recent developments in the field of small-scale industries, new advancements like drones, missiles, space and other sectors,” Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Gaurav Gupta, told The New Indian Express.
Aeorspace policy will help K’taka retain edge
The space sector will be one of the focus areas of the new policy, especially after the Central Government took the initiative to encourage private participation. That apart, the policy will also look at challenges faced by the defence and aerospace sectors as the 2013 policy was formulated with taxation-based incentives in mind, which needs a re-look.
“The aerospace policy was announced eight years ago and the context has changed now. We will hold consultations with the industry before finalising the new policy,” Gunjan Krishna, Commissioner, Industries and Commerce Department, said. Karnataka is competing at a global level and the new initiative will help retain that edge, she added.
Industry veteran and former Managing Director of HAL, Ashok Saxena, said the 2013 policy was comprehensive and the government can add some more points to it.“Let us focus on bringing the anchor industries in the aerospace park. I was requesting the CM to invite big companies. I suggest they make the new policy more elaborate on the space side as that was not that prominent at the time of our 2013 policy,” he said. India has now emerged as a major space power and the Government of India has taken many initiatives to add private players, and the state must take that into consideration, he added.