LUCKNOW: BrahMos Aerospace has proposed to set up a state-of-the-art production facility in the Lucknow node of UP’s Defence Corridor for its next generation missile project, the state government said on Tuesday.

Sudhir Kumar Mishra, CEO and MD, BrahMos Aerospace, met chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday for the allotment of 200 acres land in the state capital. The company produces one of the world’s best supersonic cruise missile system BrahMos, it said.

The facility comes under the aerospace firm’s expansion for the BrahMos Next Generation (BrahMos-NG) Missile project. The establishment of the facility will make UP an aerospace and defence hub of India as it will bring in niche technologies. It will also put Lucknow prominently on the world map as a manufacturing hub for top-notch technologies, the statement said.

The plant would come up with an approximate investment of ₹300 crore and provide direct employment to 500 engineers and technical staff. Besides, around 10,000 people will get indirect employment. In three years, the plant will have the capacity to manufacture 100 BrahMos missiles.

According to government sources, Yogi Adityanath gave his consent to the project and directed officials to allocate land to BrahMos Aerospace.

The company was likely to start production within three months of getting possession of land.

Mishra also sent a letter to Awanish Awasthi, additional chief secretary (home) and CEO of UPEIDA, for allotment of land in Lucknow.

According to BrahMos Aerospace, the company has a production facility in Hyderabad, Nagpur and Pilani. It was formed on February 12, 1998, as a joint venture between DRDO and joint stock company ‘Military Industrial Consortium’ of Russia.

According to government officials, the proposal also mentioned about the order of 400 BrahMos missiles (worth ₹8000 crore) by the Indian Air Force. The company wants to execute this order at its proposed manufacturing unit in Lucknow.

At the Lucknow unit, BrahMos Aerospace will also execute its export orders in future.

Over 200 small, medium and large Indian public and private sector defence enterprises, institutions and laboratories have been associated with the prestigious BrahMos missile programme, said the state government.

The Defence Corridor has six nodes, including Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Chitrakoot, Kanpur and Lucknow.

On February 21, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ₹20,000 crore Defence Industrial Corridor in Bundelkhand region, which was considered as one of the most backward regions of UP.