The upcoming edition of the DefExpo exhibitionIndia’s biennial marquee event for the defense manufacturing industry, has received confirmation from over 900 exhibitors and the final number is expected to cross over 1,000, official sources said.
The event will be held from March 10 to March 13 in Gandhinagar. This is the first time it being held in Gujarat,
While around 800 of the exhibitors are form India, the other 100 are from 55 nations. This will be the largest DefExpo since it began in 1996, defense ministry officials said on Wednesday, with over 1 lakh sqmts of exhibition space. More than 50 defense ministers or heads of armed forces from across the world have already confirmed their presence.
Internationally, the US pavilion has booked the largest space, while from India, the Adani and the Tata groups will have the largest stalls.
While celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence is the presiding theme, the main messaging for the DefExpo 2022, defense officials said, is “path to pride”. It aims to showcase the growth of India’s domestic defense industry, and how the policy interventions by the government has encouraged the participation of domestic players, including from the private sector.
In a new concept, the government has invited venture capitalists to the exhibition, so that defense industry start-ups get an opportunity to make their pitches to them for funding. Officials said that it will “provide impetus to these young entrepreneurs and start-ups.”
To encourage the participation of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises from the defense sector, they have been offered a 50 per cent discount.
The second India-Africa Defense Dialogue will be held alongside the DefExpo. The dialogue was initiated on the sidelines of DexExpo 2020. This year, invites have been extended to 52 countries, of which 27 have confirmed partcipation. The numbers are expected to go up.
The government expects that over 250 MoUs are likely to be signed during the exhibition.
For the public, there will be a drone show on the DefExpo’s theme, similar to the one that lit up the Delhi sky during the Beating the Retreat ceremony in January, conducted by the same start-up.
Further, the Navy will showcase some of its assets and capabilities at the Sabarmati riverfront for the larger audience.
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