India’s new defence industrial zones – one in the north of the country and one in the south – have attracted pledged investment worth more than USD 900 million, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said in parliament on 11 March.

In a parliamentary reply published by the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB), Naik said that the defence industrial corridor planned for the northern state of Uttar Pradesh had attracted investments worth INR37 billion (USD498 million). The southern state of Tamil Nadu had attracted pledges worth INR31 billion (USD418 million), he said.

Naik added that the investments had been “announced” by state-owned defence enterprises comprising the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) as well as “private industries”.