By Staff Correspondent
There is a revolution happening in India’s Aerospace and Defence Sector, given the modernisation and indigenisation programmes being undertaken by the Indian defence forces. The Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative has identified this sector as a focus area for creating an indigenous manufacturing ecosystem supported by research and development.
Aligned with Prime Minister Modi’s Mission Atmanirbhar Bharat, Dholera is ready to boost the aerospace and defence sector by providing excellent infrastructure and amenities to set up manufacturing units. Dholera is equipped with best in class plug and play infrastructure, seamless connectivity with an upcoming four-lane access-controlled expressway, international airport, common corridor and MRTS, making it a preferred destination for the Aero and Defence manufacturing sector.
India’s indigenous MRO sector has a monumental potential for growth, fueled by an unprecedented growth in aviation. India is the third-largest civil aviation market globally and is set to become world’s largest by the end of this decade, which represents a significant scope for MRO facilities in India. About 90 per cent of MRO requirements in India are met through imports. Dholera is strategically located for setting up MRO facility considering large land parcels and availability of its ecosystem, enabling India to reach the top in the global aerospace and defence industry. Manufacturing of critical aerospace component can be undertaken in Dholera considering excellent logistical links due to its international airport and existing nearby airports at Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Vadodara.
Dholera’s digital infrastructure, which has City Integrated Operation Center (CIOC) and fiber cable network, will support implementation of Industry 4.0 technology, its solutions and services. India is self-reliant with Artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, etc., which is crucial at this valid juncture. Earlier, India was dependent on PSUs and import for its Aero defence supply, but now Indian companies and MSMEs have contributed strategically and comprehensively in aerospace and defence ecosystem making India truly Atmanirbhar. With its exceptional infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities, Dholera is an excellent choice for the aerospace and defence sector. Dholera today is a strategic location for large-scale investments and is on course to become one of the prominent greenfield industrial smart cities globally.
Dholera, with its transformational model with excellent infrastructure facilities, robust industrial ecosystem, transparent and investor-friendly policies and supply chain network, is set to become a key link in the Indian defence and aerospace manufacturing sector. With a plethora of investment opportunities in Defence and Aerospace Manufacturing Clusters and future expansion of similar industries, Dholera, with its strong base, is ready to emerge as the Defence manufacturing Hub of India.
As competition intensifies and operational costs increase, putting pressure on manufacturing, industries worldwide need to accept the significant importance of the ancillary industries and how smart cities can help improve the profitability of companies. The strategic location of ancillary Industry and future expansion of possible sectors within the industrial smart city can boost productivity.
Dholera is ready to deliver flawless design and planning for defence and aerospace industry within the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” framework, customising global and domestic requirements. Its focus on the manufacturing environment with actual production capabilities also serves as a testbed to develop and deploy integrated and scalable outcomes and related decisions to the supply chain network.
The smart city also serves as a medium for existing manufacturing companies to co-create technologies essential for the futuristic defence and aerospace factories. The city has provision of helipad and adequate space of airstrip/runway for testing facilities at proposed International Passenger and Cargo Terminal with two runways of 4000 mts each. Necessary land for setting up defence/aviation manufacturing near airport can also be identified by the government of Gujarat for largescale projects. Dholera also has an added advantage of Drone testing facility and field firing range, which can be developed as and when required.
Dholera will not only be developed as the investment destination but is being planned as a city to live and play with adequate focus on social and recreational infrastructure. The master planning of the city includes projects focusing on residential, commercial open green spaces, education, healthcare and tourism facilities.
Leading technology investment areas for aerospace manufacturing include advanced analytics, cloud computing, modelling and simulation, IoT platforms, optimisation of production processes, and predictive analytics. AI and subsets of AI like machine learning will drive much of this technology in actual implementation at Dholera, where land parcels ranging from 1 acre to 330 acres are ready with Plug and Play infra and that can be aggregated to more than 1000 acres as per requirement.
The Defence cluster will be vital in realising India’s indigenisation and self-reliance under the Make in India mission and Dholera is best suited for setting up this cluster.
