Defence Ministry signs MoU to set up three testing facilities in Tamil Nadu
The Ministry of Defence on Tuesday signed an MoU to establish three state-of-the-art testing facilities in Chennai for the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor, one each in unmanned aerial system, electronic warfare and electro-optics domains.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU), under the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS), was exchanged between senior officials of the ministry and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited in the presence of Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane in New Delhi, the ministry said in a statement.
With an outlay of Rs 400 crore, the DTIS was launched by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in May 2020 to set up state-of-the-art testing facilities in collaboration with private industry and central or state government, promoting indigenous defence production, reducing military equipment imports and enhancing self-reliance, the statement said.
To provide impetus to the defence and aerospace sectors within the Defence Industrial Corridors, seven testing facilities were approved — four in Tamil Nadu and three in Uttar Pradesh.
The MoU for three such facilities in Tamil Nadu was signed on Tuesday, the ministry said.