Dynamite News Aero India will not be shifted out of Bengaluru
Ending speculations, the defence ministry Saturday said the next edition of Aero India -- considered Asia's largest aerospace exhibition -- will be held in its traditional venue of Bengaluru from February 20 to 24 next year.
New Delhi: Ending speculations, the defence ministry Saturday said the next edition of Aero India -- considered Asia's largest aerospace exhibition -- will be held in its traditional venue of Bengaluru from February 20 to 24 next year.
Last month, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had made a request to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to select Lucknow as the venue for Aero India, triggering angry reactions from various political parties in Karnataka.
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There were speculations that the venue for the mega event may be shifted after the defence ministry indicated that it was examining requests from a number of states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh to host the 12th edition of Aero India.
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"The government has decided to hold Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru from February 20-24, 2019," the ministry said.
Since its inception in 1996, Bengaluru has been hosting the event. The ministry said a number of global defence majors and big investors in the aerospace industry will participate in the five-day event besides leading think-tanks from across the world.
"Besides giving a fillip to the domestic aviation industry, it would further the cause of Make in India," the ministry said in a statement.
In his request to host Aero India near Lucknow, Adityanath had on August 11 said such a move will give a fillip to the proposed defence corridor in Uttar Pradesh. Days later Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insisting that Bengaluru would be the "best choice" for the event.
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"Bengaluru being the hub for defence and aviation majors of the country, is certainly the most suitable place to conduct the show," he had said in the letter.
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In the budget for 2018-19, the government announced to set up two defence corridors -- one in Tamil Nadu and other in Uttar Pardesh-- to promote defence manufacturing. The corridor in Uttar Pradesh will pass through six districts --- Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Chitrakoot. (PTI)