The GMR Group will invest Rs 1,000 crore in developing the planned aerospace and defence manufacturing hub at its Special Investment Region, in Hosur, in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district.
The aerospace and defence manufacturing hub will be spread over 600 acres. The GMR Group overall has 2,100 acres in the area.
The group is looking to leverage on the government's Make in India push, with offset policy in defence sector expected to bring in more investment to set up manufacturing facilities.
"The hub is ideally located, with manufacturing facilities of major defence PSUs, including HAL, Bharat Electronics, situated within a distance of 60km," a senior GMR Group executive told Moneycontrol.
Of the 600 acres, infrastructure like roads, sewage and electric lines will be ready on 275 acres within six to eight months, the executive added.
He added that the planned hub will benefit from established industrial ecosystem in Hosur, where more than 700 MSMEs are present.
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"Even players like Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer, has a development centre in Bengaluru, which is nearby," said the executive.
The project is a joint venture between GMR Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO).
While the company said it is too early to name possible investors in the hub — and the investment amount — executives said they had started the process of reaching out to manufacturers of defence equipment.
"Defence is a capex heavy sector. Investments in the hub will be sizeable," said the executive.
Commenting on the planned hub, BVN Rao, Business Chairman-Transportation & Urban Infrastructure, GMR Group had on Wednesday said: “This defence manufacturing hub can potentially be a game changer for the region. We will be providing all the necessary infrastructure facilities to attract global majors to set up their manufacturing facilities here."
The hub in Tamil Nadu is one of the two hubs that were announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in this year's Union Budget. The second aerospace and defence hub will come up in Uttar Pradesh.
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