The state government of Uttar Pradesh and the defence ministry have recently shifted their focus to the Uttar Pradesh defence industrial corridor project, with an aim to turn the state into a defence production hub. The BrahMos missile unit will be ready for inauguration on May 11. On that day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the BrahMos missile manufacturing unit in Lucknow. The facility is targeted to produce 80 to 100 missiles annually.

While the state is preparing to allow the second phase of land parcels under the project in Aligarh, the existing land parcels in three nodes, that is Lucknow, Kanpur, and Aligarh, have already been allotted. A team of officials, including Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar, is camping in the Greek capital of Athens to draw more investment into the state defence sector.

Founding the Project

The unit’s foundation stone was laid in 2021 as part of a defence industrial corridor that the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced in 2008 during the global investor summit. Inauguration of the BrahMos unit worth ₹300 crore will be a boost to this project, according to the government. For the same, about 1600 ha of land were allotted for the defence corridor project in the first phase. Talks with BHEL for its unit are also underway.

This defence project, which the Prime Minister announced in 2018, will have six nodes: Lucknow, Kanpur, Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi and Chitrakoot. Both IIT Kanpur and IIT BHU in Varanasi will be roped in as centres of excellence for research and development for the project. The institutes have already received more than ₹28,000 crore for investment proposals for different notes.