PM lays foundation stone for Jhansi Unit of BDL
New Delhi/Jhansi: Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for setting up a manufacturing unit of Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), at Jhansi in the UP Defence Corridor. BDL, a Miniratna Defence PSU under the Ministry of Defence, is one among the few companies in the world having state-of-the-art facilities for manufacture and supply of Anti – Tank Guided Missiles, Surface to Air Missiles, Air-to-Air Missiles, Air to Surface Missiles, Underwater Weapons and Counter Measures Systems for the Armed Forces. BDL has also designed and developed Drone delivered bombs.
According to an official press release from BDL, the upcoming unit at Jhansi will be the sixth manufacturing unit of the Company and the first one in the Northern part of India, having its registered office at Hyderabad.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister stated that the components being manufactured in Jhansi for Anti-Tank Guided Missiles will give a new identity to the region. The Anti-Tank Guided Missiles manufactured by BDL will make our army more-stronger and our borders, more secure. While Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath in his address stated that all formalities related to the leasing agreement and registration of land allotted to BDL have been completed and the facility will come up very fast.
The occasion was graced by Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandiben Patel, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, MoS for Defence Ajay Bhatt, MoS for MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Member of Parliament from Jhansi Anurag Sharma, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat and Secretary (Defence) Dr Ajay Kumar.
BDL's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd), Director (Technical) NP Diwakar, Director (Production) P Radhakrishna, Director (Finance) N Srinivasulu, CVO Dr Upender Vennam (IPoS), Executive Director (Mktg) Commodore TN Kaul (Retd), Executive Director (Kanchanbagh Unit & PSG) Commodore A Madhavrao (Retd) and other senior officers were present.
While speaking on the occasion Commodore Mishra stated that the "Jhansi unit of BDL will be manufacturing Propulsion System which will be used in all anti-tank guided missiles and futuristic missiles manufactured by the company. This is an important step towards the backward integration plan being implemented to further strengthen the capability to deliver world-class weapon systems to the customers. BDL proposes to invest up to Rs 400 Crore for various technologies at this location."
BDL has acquired land at UP Defence Corridor in Jhansi to set up the unit. The company is planning to commence operations at this facility by 2023, which would create a lot of employment opportunities for people in the region once the facility is fully operational. It is expected that MSMEs as ancillary units will also be established once BDL's Jhansi unit becomes operational.
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