Defence officials expect that 251 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth 75,000 crore will be signed during the three business days of the 14th Aero India, which will be attended by 809 Indian and foreign companies spread out over 35,000 sq. m. India will make a strong case for its own military hardware at the Defense Ministers’ conclave, which 32 foreign Defense Ministers have already said they will attend.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will open Aero India 2023, which will last for five days. The 13th, 14th, and 15th of February are business days, but the 16th and 17th are public holidays.
European defence giants Airbus and Thales made a first-of-its-kind announcement at the expo: they will meet with job-seeking candidates during the two public days to see if they want to work for them.
The goal of the event is to promote exports of air platforms, with a focus on the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), and to attract foreign investments, including co-development and co-production, said Cdr. Achal Malhotra, Director, Defence Exhibition Organisation in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), at the opening ceremony on Sunday.
The expo includes a meeting of Defence Ministers, a CEOs round table, a Manthan (brainstorming) start-up event, a Bandhan ceremony, air shows, a large exhibition, the India Pavilion, and a trade fair for aerospace companies.
When talking to the media, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that Aero India 2023 will show how good the country is at making things and how far it has come in achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat. “A strong and self-sufficient defence sector will be a key part of India becoming one of the top three economies in the world in the future. The Indian economy benefits in many ways when the defence sector does well. “The technologies that are made for the military can also be used in the civilian world,” he said.
This year, 98 countries, the Defense Ministers of 32 countries, the Air Chiefs of 29 countries, and 73 CEOs of global and Indian original equipment manufacturers will take part in the event (OEMs).
Officials say the goal of the event is to promote the export of aircraft made in India, such as the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Tejas, the HTT-40, the Dornier Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), and the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). Officials say it will connect Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and new businesses to the global supply chain and bring in foreign investments, such as partnerships for co-development and co-production.
At the meeting of Defense Ministers, they would talk about how to improve cooperation in areas like capacity building (through investments, research and development, joint ventures, co-development, co-production, and the supply of defence equipment), training, space, artificial intelligence (AI), and maritime security. The Defense Ministry said that the conclave is a chance for the Defense Ministers to work together to move forward the “Make in India, Make for the World” vision.
Mr. Singh said that the CEOs’ round table should be the start of better communication between business partners and the government, which will help the “Make in India” campaign. He also said that the round table will give the world’s top business leaders a chance to talk about the strength and capabilities of the Indian defence industry in front of them.
Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) is putting on an annual defence innovation event called Manthan. This event will bring together the top innovators, start-ups, MSMEs, incubators, academia, and investors from the defence and aerospace ecosystem. The LCA will be one of the 227 products shown by 115 companies at the “India Pavilion.”
There will also be seminars on topics like “India’s Defense Space Initiative: Opportunities for Shaping Indian Private Space Ecosystem,” “Indigenous Development of Futuristic Aerospace Technologies, Including Aero Engines,” “Destination Karnataka: U.S.-India Defense Cooperation Innovation and Make in India,” “Advancement in Maritime Surveillance Equipment and Assets,” and “Sustenance in MRO and Obsolescence Mitigation.” The opportunities in Karnataka will be shown to the participants in a separate pavilion for the state.
Potential recruitment
Airbus said in a statement that it will hold a public “meet and greet” event at the Aero India air show to find engineering and information technology (IT) talent. Aspiring candidates will be able to meet with Airbus executives and learn about career opportunities in airframe design, avionics, aircraft systems simulation, data analytics, cybersecurity, and cabin engineering.
Thales said that their HR team will also be there during the public days to meet engineers who want to work for the company and talk to them about the different job opportunities at their engineering centres in Bengaluru and Noida.
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