Neglect of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in defense hub

District has vendor base of 16 to 17 defense base industries

VAIBHAV PARWAT

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The city’s industrial area has been neglected once again due to the shifting of the Mega Textile Park to Amravati under the PM Mitra scheme. The move has sparked concerns about whether the city will receive compensation through the establishment of a Defense Hub.

In 2021, the Central government announced that it would establish a Defense Hub in Auric to promote defense manufacturing in the region. The hub was expected to attract significant investments and create job opportunities. However, it has now been reported that the construction of the Defense Hub has been delayed due to various reasons, including land acquisition issues and approvals from the ministry of defense. This delay is a setback for the DMIC project, which has already faced several delays in the past.

Presence of defense vendor base

The government had earlier announced the establishment of a defense hub in Auric, and the then Fadnavis government had even prepared a policy for the project. The announcement was made due to the presence of 16 to 17 vendor base industries manufacturing defense components in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar industrial area. The hub was promoted as a defense hub at the Defense Expo in Goa a few years ago, but the whole process has gone cold since then.

Call for quick decision making

There is a call for quick decision-making regarding the Defense hub project announced in the city. The State government had proposed to the Central government to establish a Defense hub in the Bidkin industrial belt, which would provide direct employment to one lakh people in a thousand-acre area. The success of the project is crucial for the economic development of the region, and any delay in its implementation will have a significant impact on the overall project timeline, said Massia president Kiran Jagtap.

Announcement to be made soon

A senior official of Auric said that the Auric administration is working on the drone policy and defense cluster and an announcement in this regard is expected soon.