Hyderabad — Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has announced that the state government will soon unveil its Aerospace and Defence Policy 2.0 to attract investments in the defence sector and promote Hyderabad as a destination for defence research, ANI reported, citing the Chief Minister's Office release.

Source: ANI via LatestLY

Addressing the curtain-raiser programme for the Raksha Expo on Saturday, Reddy said the government wants to develop the expo into an international platform bringing together stakeholders from the defence sector for dialogue and collaboration. He urged aerospace and defence companies to expand their investments in the state, The News Trust reported.

Source: The News Trust

Reddy said Hyderabad holds a strategic position in India, citing the city's research institutions and the presence of key strategic centres of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. He noted that Telangana, the only state in South India without a coastline, still serves the Indian Navy, and that a Very Low Frequency (VLF) naval radar station is being constructed in the Damagundam Reserve Forest in Vikarabad district.

Representatives of DRDO, HAL, BDL, Midhani, the Tata Group, Airbus, Skyroot, Lockheed Martin and Bharat Forge attended the curtain-raiser, the Chief Minister said. He also pointed to the state's skilled workforce base — IITs, IIITs, NITs, ISB and BITS — the Young India Skills University, ITIs being upgraded into Advanced Training Centres, and its incubators.

Linking the policy to the state's Telangana Rising Vision 2047 roadmap, Reddy said Telangana is targeting a $1-trillion economy by 2034 (yaani about 1,000 billion dollars) and a $3-trillion economy by 2047 (yaani about 3,000 billion dollars), and wants to raise its share of the national economy from about 5 per cent to 10 per cent by 2047, according to The News Trust's report of his remarks.

Source: The News Trust

The Chief Minister invited participants to the Invest Telangana Global Summit, scheduled for December 7 to 9 at Bharat Future City in Hyderabad, describing last year's first edition as a success. Hyderabad Mail also reported the policy announcement and the plan to position Hyderabad as a major destination for defence research and manufacturing.

Source: Hyderabad Mail