Rheinmetall's LYNX Future Infantry Fighting Armoured Vehicle

LUCKNOW: Under its ‘Invest UP’ initiative, the state government on Monday held an interaction with German defence manufacturing company Rheinmetall which has expressed interest in investing in upcoming defence corridor in UP.

The company specialises in manufacturing of automotive parts, military vehicles, autocannons, anti-aircraft defence systems, artillery, mortars, tank guns, munitions, ammunition, fuze systems (part of a device that initiates function) and electronics.

The government will provide potential investment locations to the company through Google Map, details of land banks, infrastructure around each plot and the policy incentives available that will be offered to them.

In the virtual meeting, led by MSME minister Sidharth Nath Singh, discussions were held on the investment potential in UP. The German company was represented by CEO of Rheinmetall Electronics Division Susanne Wiegand and CEO of Rheinmetall Air Defence Fabian Ochsner.

Singh informed the potential investors that besides manpower, UP provides abundant infrastructure in the form of expressways, highways and airports.

“UP’s policies across different sectors offer major incentives to investors, making the state a highly sought after investment hub,” Singh said and offered other defence opportunities in the state like setting up of a centre of excellence, incubation centres and defence manufacturing units as part of the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

“The state government will provide full support to any potential investor to ensure they are able to conduct business in a smooth manner,” he said.

Additional chief secretary, MSME, Navneet Sehgal elaborated the state government’s policies to attract investment.

“Other than basic infrastructure, presence of numerous ordnance factories along with large MSME base in the state will act as ancillary units for big defence units,” he said.

He also spoke about defence corridor and its investment potential.

“There are six nodes along this corridor with a proposed area of 5071.9 hectares. Major progress has already been made in land acquisition across all nodes. The industry will be supported through strong defence ecosystem with five ordnance factories and three units of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL),” he said.

Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) Alok Tandon informed the Rheinmetall representatives about UPEIDA and its role in land allotment and other facilitation services.