Reliance Group to Set Up India’s First Defense Smart City Near Nagpur

NEW DELHI - Aug. 7, 2015 - PRLog -- In what is a first of its kind, the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has announced a smart city dedicated towards manufacturing of helicopters for commercial and military use. The will be developed at an estimated cost of $1 billion at Mihan near Nagpur.

The announcement comes close on the heels of Reliance Group’s recent tie-up with Singapore-based Augur for manufacturing aerostats and airships in India. DAAP could be seen as an extension of that and is touted as the first integrated facility across the country for aerospace structure, engine design and manufacture, fabrication and platform integration.

Speaking about DAAP, Anil Ambani said, “The group plans to develop DAAP as a centre of excellence in the aerospace segment on the lines of the global centre of ship building at Pipavav in Gujarat." Earlier this year, the Reliance Group added heft in its defence manufacturing by buying out Nikhil Gandhi-promoted Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering (PDOE), which houses India's largest dry dock facility to build warships. It subsequently committed investments of Rs 5,000 crore towards indigenization efforts.”

Reliance Group is believed to have held talks with the governments of Maharashtra, UP, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan before Mihan was centered on. The project is also said to draw parallels with some similar initiatives worldwide, including the Aerospace Valley in France which holds a cluster of about 500 aerospace companies around Toulouse. Some of those include Airbus, EADS, Air France Industries and Dassault Aviation.

DAAP is projected as an exclusive hub to manufacture aircraft components and spares and look after the wider aerospace industry requirements. It promises an employment boost with nearly 2,000 direct jobs and close to 10,000 indirect jobs being created from its doors.

Moreover, DAAP will push indigenous capabilities creation through skill development, training, and integrated solutions.  It will boost the product development cycle right from the scratch, including maintenance, repairs and overhaul. Sources suggest that Reliance Group is also n talks with competent partners and OEMs for optimizing and implementing its defence overview.

Reliance Group

Reliance Group is one of India’s top 5 business conglomerates, and a pioneer in telecommunications, power, infrastructure, financial services, and media and entertainment.  Venturing into defense, its vision for India’s manufacturing and building capabilities is to be more scalable and indigenous.
With a user base of over 200 million, the Group reaches out to every 1 in 6 Indians, and has one of the largest shareholder strength worldwide of over 8 million shareholders.

Reference Link:-http://www.thequint.com/business/2015/08/05/qbiz-reliance...

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